Paw Patrol Joins Forces
by Akito Sohma 101
Summary: Ryder, now at the tender age of 19, and his trusty pups of the Paw Patrol are now officially the legal feds of Adventure Bay, but now they have a big problem on their paws. Ladybird has returned, and is causing havoc all over both Adventure Bay and Foggy Bottom, and must be stopped before she goes too far with her stealing antics, and other possible tricks up her sleeves. 3 pairing
1. Finally Caught

**Hi there everyone! I'm back! So sorry for being inactive these last few years. Life caught up with me; I had 3 jobs, I have a child to raise, but now that I no longer have a day job, I might just have a little time to get back to my fanfiction writing. Maybe even update one of my other stories. Hehe!**

**For today, to honour my return to Fanfiction, I am once again going out of my comfort zone, and writing about something different. Because my 2 year old daughter loves it so much, and so do I because of her, I have decided to write a Paw Patrol fanfic. It'll be far different than what anyone will expect, and a little different from the show, but the characters, original and new from newer seasons, will be the same. I won't add any original characters at this time. **

**Even so, I hope you like it. There will be three pairings; Ryder&Katie, Chase&Skye, and Marshall&Everest, (I read stories with this pairing; they sound so cute together, so I thought why not). Cheers! **

_Zoom! _

The red-haired woman flew through the skies of Adventure Bay, stealing everyone's belongings once again. But they were not just any belongings; but shiny belongings. Scouting every area in town, from the park, to Mr. Porter's restaurant, to Jake's mountain, taking everything shiny she could get her hands on. She didn't care if the items didn't belong to her; she had her belief that if the object shines, it belonged to her, so she took it. With these antics, she gave herself the name Ladybird.

Laughing as she went, grabbing nearly everything in sight, and all of Adventure Bay cursing her as she flew by, she felt as if she'll never be stopped. Or so she thought.

Within minutes, she heard sirens coming right towards her. As she turned around, the Paw Patrol was tailgating her in Chase's Ultimate Police truck. All the full grown pups were in police uniform, and riding beside them on a motorcycle was their leader Ryder, who was now at the tender age of 19, full grown, strong and mighty, like his trusty pups. They watched Ladybird fly around to confuse them, so Ryder signaled all the pups to separate into their own police vehicles to try and catch her, and Skye flew up in her police copter to head her off. As she flew towards her, the two collided with each other and fell; Ladybird crashing into the tulip bed in front of City Hall, making Mayor Goodway very upset, and Skye crashing to the ground, but not before sending up a parachute to slow it down, so she didn't land too hard, but there were a couple things that got damaged upon impact.

"Skye!" Chase shouted, running towards her to make sure she wasn't hurt. "Skye, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Skye answered, before looking over to the crashed helicopter. "I wish I could say the same thing for the police chopper."

"That doesn't matter right now," said Chase as he kissed Skye. "What matters is that you're okay. We'll worry about the chopper later."

"Okay," Skye agreed as she and Chase walked to join the other pups.

They all surrounded Ladybird, who was struggling to get up after her hard fall; which came as an opportunity for Chase, with some help from Rocky's claw arm, to put handcuffs on her.

"Ladybird, you're under arrest."

Just on the edge of town, not far from the docks, there stood a new underground office and laboratory, and Ryder and the Paw Patrol were the only ones authorised to enter, as they were now officially the legal feds of Adventure Bay. That such event happened when Ryder became of age, and started his official police training, with a little help from Chase who was already the police pup of the group; and even then, Ryder obviously remained the leader of the Paw Patrol, which now doubled as a police group. Once the training was complete, the office was built to celebrate Ryder's success, which really pleased him, especially since the office area at the underground entrance at the bottom of the steps leading back up to the surface, had all the familiar comforts of the Lookout inside. Behind the office was a long corridor leading to another room; and next to it was a second long corridor leading to different rooms where the Paw Patrol started to keep those who tried to cause havoc in Adventure Bay under control. One could say it was an underground prison, which was recently built by Rubble and his Ultimate Construction truck, and now it was about to gain its very first inmate; none other than Ladybird herself.

Ryder and Chase walked along the first long corridor towards that one room, where Ladybird sat at a table, still in cuffs, waiting to be interrogated. From time to time, Chase would glance up at Ryder, who just looked ahead with a strict look on his face. Chase knew that look anywhere; it was the look that showed he was deep in thought as to what he was going to say to Ladybird, while trying to be nice about it. Chase however, was focused on wanting to get Ladybird off of the streets, or in this case, out of the skies. He was already not happy with the fact Ladybird crashed into Skye, who happened to be his girlfriend.

They reached the room, and Ryder opened it with his key card, and he walked in alongside Chase, who jumped up on another chair, and growled at Ladybird.

"Easy Chase," he said in his low voice that gave everyone chills up and down their spines. Chase stopped, but continued to give Ladybird the stink eye. They both stood in front of the table, ready to start. "Ladybird, you've got a lot of nerve showing up back here. Why?"

Ladybird shivered. She was even getting chills.

"Pfft! Adventure Bay is just chock full of shiny things. I just have to have them!"

"Yes, but why?" asked Ryder, after putting his head in his hand. "Why is stealing people's shiny belongings so important to you? Hmm?"

"Look at you acting all tough," Ladybird laughed. She was trying to taunt him, although it was irritating Chase more than it was Ryder. "I remember a little boy trying to act the same way. Oh! Right! That was you! And I'll have you know, I didn't listen to you then, so why should I listen to you now? You're just a boy."

"STOP THIS MADNESS YOU CALL FUN!" Chase barked as he jumped halfway onto the table towards Ladybird, causing her to jump right back into her chair.

"Calm down, Chase. This isn't the time for Good Pup, Bad Pup," Ryder spoke up. Chase took a deep breath, and sat back onto the chair, and Ryder looked at Ladybird again and continued. "I'll have YOU know, I am half a year shy of 20. I may still be the leader of the Paw Patrol, but we're also the legal feds of Adventure Bay. Nothing you say is going to stop that from being true, because I have proof. But never mind that; answer the question."

"Haven't I told you? I come for the shiny things. It's like a drug to me, just less toxic."

"I've heard enough," Chase growled as he rolled his eyes and turned away.

"Well, now, hold on," said Ryder. "I think we're getting somewhere with that. Because do you know what I think? I think that by staying down here for a while, you can get over this, what we like to call, addiction to shiny objects. Right?"

Upon hearing that, Chase smirked; and it didn't take long for Ladybird to figure out what was going to happen to her.

"Ryder. Are you saying this place is about to get its very first inmate?" asked Chase as he started to wag his tail.

"Chase. That is exactly what I'm saying," Ryder answered which made Chase wag his tail even more. He then turned to the two golden retriever twins sitting there watching the whole thing. "Ella. Tuck. Escort Ladybird out of here. See to it that she stays put."

They both nodded and complied. As they escorted Ladybird down the second corridor, Ryder and Chase made their way along the first corridor back to the entrance, where the rest of the pups were waiting.


	2. Everyone Has a Back Story

**Thanks for the great reviews for the first chapter! Now onto chapter 2, where you'll learn quite a bit about Ryder's past, and how he met the pups. Here we go! **

Ryder and Chase re-entered the office area after Ladybird was escorted away, and stood in front of the rest of the pups, who were laying in the lounge, anxiously waiting to hear about what had happened in the interrogation room.

"Well pups," Ryder began, "after burrowing our way through some stubbornness and finally getting some answers, this place now officially has its first inmate."

The pups perked up and wagged their own tails upon hearing that.

"You mean Ladybird is off the streets?!" asked Marshall.

"Or out of the skies?" Skye chimed in, causing everybody to laugh.

"Yep! Ladybird will be serving some time down here, until such a time as she learns her lesson, and stops taking things that don't belong to her," Ryder answered as he took off his tactical vest. The pups barked and howled in triumph.

"Good riddance!" said Rocky.

"You said it, dude," Zuma agreed, who remembered all those rooms had a big thick glass wall like a window, so the inmates would have a view of the ocean; idea courtesy of Cap'n Turbot. Zuma then started to giggle.

"HOPE YOU'RE AFRAID OF SHARKS, LADY NOT-A-BIRD!" he called out, making everyone laugh; even Ryder, who nowadays was hard to please sometimes. The pups knew how, and definitely a few other people in town.

"How long do you think she'll be down here?" asked Rubble with a pup treat in his mouth.

"Ugh! Say it, don't spray it! Wet!" Rocky piped up as he shook himself dry.

"We're not sure but it could be a quite a while, she may not even come back at all," said Chase as he jumped up onto the sofa next to Skye, who laid her head on his shoulder. "I honestly would prefer it if she didn't come back at all. She made me so mad in there, and I was already upset with her for crashing into Skye. And then she had to go and taunt Ryder; no one is allowed to do that."

"So that's why we heard you barking," said Skye.

"And shouting," Marshall added. Chase nodded.

"It's really no big deal, Chase," said Ryder. "People can try and taunt me, insult me; or even try to make me angry, but it doesn't work on me at all; because I don't let it bother me. I learned even long before I started attending the police academy, that if you know the untrue rumours people make up about you, are in fact untrue then it's not going to bother you as much. And by not letting things like that bother you, you know you're being professional about it; and you'll be surprised at how seriously people take you."

"Yeah, sometimes I forget that," Chase agreed after giving it some thought. He looked at Skye, who had her paws intertwined with his. "Sometimes I just need to be reminded of it; because I don't want anyone I care about being hurt in any way, shape or form."

"Awww," said Skye as Chase rested his chin on her head, and she nuzzled her face against him.

"Get a room you two," Marshall laughed.

"You're one to talk," said Rubble as he grabbed another pup treat.

"Yeah, dude. What about you and Everest?" Zuma chimed in.

"Hey, shut it!" said Marshall, as everyone started to laugh, including Ryder as he went to hang up his vest; and as he was grabbing his police jacket, he looked at the wall, which he always did before leaving the office.

The wall was covered in certificates and awards, and framed photographs of everything he and the pups have been through during the last few years; one of which was the day the Paw Patrol formed, and got their certification. Another photo was of the day they met Rubble; he was just a little puppy then, and now he was grown up and tough, except for the odd time he would see a spider. Ryder looked at them all and smiled, even at the one photo of when he was 13, and he and the pups got a star on the Walk of Fame; he remembered that day all too well, it was an indication the Paw Patrol was famous everywhere. He looked at another one of the day he completed his police training, which happened nearly a year ago, when he was still 18 and just leaving his teenage years behind him; which brought him to the picture of his 19th birthday when he received his very first vehicle, which happened to be a ghost vehicle, so if he had to do police work, no one would see him coming until he turned on the sirens. He let out a quiet laugh, until he turned to one particular photo that turned his smile upside down.

He began to reminisce about this particular photo, and it always gave him the feels as it was one of his favourite memories. In the photo, he was 7 years old, holding his very first award, and standing in between his parents; who he hadn't seen in many years. He thought back to the day he got the award, and the events that followed a week after that.

"Are you okay, Ryder?" asked Rubble, noticing the look on his face.

"Oh, yeah," Ryder answered as he continued to look at the photo, not knowing all the pups gathered around him.

"Who are those people, Ryder?" asked Skye.

"My mom and dad; my dad was a police officer in this town, the only one too; and my mom was a wildlife rescuer. This photo was taken after winning my very first soccer game, when I was 7. But then, a week later, everything had to change."

"What happened?" Skye asked again. Ryder thought for a moment, and then took a deep breath.

"My dad was helping with a bust with some other troops out of town, and was killed in the line of duty," he answered. "Upon hearing about it, my mom was stricken with grief. She disappeared; killed or captured, I didn't know, I just remember coming home from soccer practice and she was gone. I knew right there and then, I was on my own, and our house was almost taken away; until my dad's lawyer showed up with his last will and testament. It said should anything happen to him, or God forbid, my mom, the house would be left to me. Luckily it was paid off, so I didn't need to worry about it. He also gave me whatever money was left in my dad's bank account, which was A LOT, along with a reminder of a trust fund my dad made up, which I'll be receiving in a few years. The events that followed that photo are the reason I became what I am today; to carry on my dad's legacy, and to catch the idiot that killed him."

He looked at the photo again, and had a look on his face that said: 'one day; one day I will avenge you.'

"Where was that house you had at that time" asked Rubble.

"It was up on our hill," said Ryder, "where the Lookout is right now. It was a little blue house with a balcony on the roof."

"I remember that house," said Chase, thinking about his puppy days.

"Me too," Marshall chimed in. "It was cozy, but not as cozy as the Lookout."

"Yeah," Chase agreed. "And you tripped over everything!"

"And YOU got into everything," Ryder added, pointing at Chase. "One morning I came out of my room and I caught you in the garbage!"

"Oooops!"

"Chase? In the GARBAGE?" asked Zuma, completely surprised.

"Yep!" Chase laughed, and so did Skye.

"He was just a puppy, couldn't even talk yet," said Ryder. "I remember all of you getting into the garbage at one point; hell, I found Rocky in a dumpster."

"I remember that," said Rocky, "and I remember being completely covered in fleas."

"And I remember you chomping me when I tried to bathe you," Ryder laughed.

"Sorry," Rocky cowered, making everyone laugh.

"Where did you find Chase?" asked Skye.

"I found him behind Katie's, during a power outage," said Ryder. "It was fall, the same year my dad died, and we had a big wind and rain storm that left us without power for almost 2 days. I stayed with Katie and her grandmother that one night, when we heard whimpering coming from somewhere. So we went outside, and looked around, and right by the tree, there he was; poor little guy was cold, malnourished, and God forbid, beaten. He wouldn't let anyone near him; he growled at us, he was so scared. But after trying to give him a pup treat, he started to calm down, and so I carefully picked him up in a blanket and brought him inside, we fed him, we bathed him, and his cuts were treated."

"I remember whimpering during my first bath," said Chase, looking back on that night. "The cuts I had were painful, but I have to admit, the warm water felt real nice."

Skye hugged him after hearing what he went through.

"He calmed right down after that," Ryder added, "I knew that because the next morning I woke up to him licking my face. I knew at that point, he became a very happy puppy."

"Whistle wasn't happy though," Chase said again.

"Ah yes. Whistle," Ryder recalled.

"Who's Whistle?" asked Rubble, munching on another pup treat.

"Again! Say it, don't spray it," said Rocky as he shook himself.

"Whistle was the cat Katie had before she got Cali," Ryder answered. "She was a funny cat; her meowing sounded like she was whistling. Hence her name Whistle. But unfortunately for Chase, he started having a sneezing fit, and even wound up sneezing on her at one point."

The pups laughed upon hearing that, especially Chase as he remembered discovering his cat allergy.

"What about Marshall?" asked Zuma.

"Ah yes," Ryder recalled. "This happened 3 weeks after finding Chase, and that was a tragic winter day for the Porter's; Alex's parents were on their way home when their car slipped on ice and crashed into a lamp post, barely missing me and Chase. I managed to get them out of the car, with some help from a few other people. Just after we got them out, Chase started barking at something and I couldn't figure out was it was; until I saw what he was barking at. A tiny little white puppy had managed to crawl all the way up to the nearby fire hydrant, and bump the valve, which caused water to shoot out and put out the small fire in the car."

All the pups were shocked to hear the story. Marshall had a look of guilt on his face, even though the accident was not his fault at all.

"Poor Alex," said Rubble.

"I feel so bad," said Marshall, feeling like he was going to cry. Chase put his paw on his back for comfort, just as Ryder kneeled in front of him.

"It's okay, Marshall," he said, rubbing his ears. "Nobody is blaming you, not even Alex. In fact he's grateful we pitched in to try and save his parents; he and his grandfather thank us everyday without us even knowing. None of it was your fault, and it's because of that we discovered your talent early on. Right?"

Marshall nodded, and smiled. He needed to be reassured of something like that, especially since he was the clumsy type. He continued to smile.

"What about Zuma?" asked Rocky, breaking the silence.

'Ah! Now THAT is a funny story," said Ryder. "I found Zuma after Skye came to us from Ace Sorensen."

"I was her best student," Skye recalled. "After my aviation training, she decided it's time for me to go to a good home, and that's where Ryder comes in. He was so amazed by my flying skills, that he deemed them very useful for the Paw Patrol. I was so happy to join; I couldn't help but do backflips over and over again."

"I knew I loved her then, I just didn't know how to tell her right away," said Chase, making Skye smile. "So anyway, sorry, you were talking about how Zuma came to us."

"Yes," Ryder continued. "This was one of our first Paw Patrol missions after getting our certification; we were checking out a burglary at the local surf shop, and one of the surf boards was missing. After Chase did some sniffing around, he found paint marks on the floor, leading out to the street. We followed them all the way to the beach, where we saw the very thing that caused the burglary."

He then pointed at Zuma, who was having a very hard time holing back his laughter.

"That little Chocolate Labrador puppy walked right into the surf shop, chomped on the end of a surf board, and dragged it out of the shop, all the way to the beach!"

"Really?!" asked Rocky and Rubble at the same, causing Zuma to burst out laughing as he nodded.

"And man, was I proud of it!"

"Yes, you were, and you still are," Ryder agreed. "We apologised to the owner for the inconvenience, I paid for the surf board, and Zuma went surfing. After that, he joined us as our aqua pup. Then Rocky came to us about a month later, and then 3 months later, Rubble."

"And we've been this way ever since," said Rubble, who stomach started to growl. "Excuse me."

"I think that's enough stories for today, who's up for lunch?" asked Ryder as he put his police jacket on. The pups howled upon hearing the word. "I thought so. Well, let's go to Mr. Porter's. I have to return this to Alex."

"What is it?" asked Marshall.

"It's his dad's pocket knife," said Ryder, holding it up. "It means the world to him, and he was very upset when Missy back there took it. Can't wait to see the look on his face when he gets it back. Let's go."

They exited the office, locked up, and they all loaded up into Ryder's Ford Expedition, and drove off to Mr. Porter's.


	3. Warnings

**Once again, thank you all for the great reviews. Yes I know I mentioned this story is far different from the show and all, but that's okay. The reviews say it's all good. And I am really on a roll with this story. **

*****Fair warning: starting in this chapter, there will be some bad words. Not too many, but you will be surprised with who says them. *****

**Here's chapter 3. **

"Shot gun!" Chase called out as he jumped into the passenger seat of Ryder's Ford Expedition.

"And I call the middle!" Marshall called out as he too jumped in and sat on the middle console.

"You two always get the front," Rubble whined as he and the rest of the pups jumped into the back.

"Joys of being front seat navigator pups," said Marshall, "right Chase?"

"You got it," Chase agreed.

"May I sit in the front seat with you Chase?" asked Skye, batting her eyes.

"Of course you can. You don't even have to ask," Chase smiled, as Skye jumped right over Marshall, and sat between Chase's paws, and nuzzled her face against him.

"You just can't say no to her, can you dude?" asked Zuma with a small laugh.

"Never," said Chase as he kissed Skye, just as Ryder got into the driver seat.

"Alright, buckle up pups. And you too, love pups," he said, which made them all laugh as he put on his sunglasses, powered up the car and drove to Mr. Porter's. It didn't take long to get there, as the restaurant was only a few blocks away. Ryder parked the car right out front, powered it off, and everyone got out.

"Last one to the table is a wet dog!" Marshall called out.

"You're on!" said Zuma as he ran ahead.

"Nah, I'm good" said Rocky, not wanting to get wet.

"Uh, I do have my confetti cannons Rocky," said Marshall.

"Oh, NOW you're on!" Rocky perked up, and ran to catch up. Ryder laughed as he walked behind them, watching as Marshall got there last, and tripped on one of the chairs, where 14 year old Alex stood with a glass of water in his hand, and dumped it right onto Marshall's head.

"Who's the wet dog now?" he laughed.

"Thanks Alex," he said, as he shook himself dry, "that was refreshing."

"No problem Marshall," said Alex, who then went to the door. "They're here Grandpa!"

Ryder sat down at a table closest to the building, with the pups gathered around him as Alex brought out a menu, and some water and food for the pups. They immediately started to chow down; doing police work that also doubled as a Paw Patrol mission really worked up an appetite for them. Ryder on the other hand, still couldn't believe how grown up Alex was; he had gone from an enthusiastic, high-spirited little boy who idolized Ryder because of everything he and the Paw Patrol did, to a lanky, loveable teenager who loved to help people in his own way, and like he when was younger, always thought of Ryder as the older brother he never had. Ryder didn't mind; in fact he thought of Alex as a younger brother, seeing as they both had no siblings. And as a brother figure, Ryder was proud of him with how far he had come, and he figured this was the moment to surprise him.

"Oh, hey, Alex, before I forget," Ryder began, reaching into his jacket pocket, "I believe this belongs to you."

"Oh my God!" said Alex as he took the pocket knife and holding it close, with the biggest smile on his face. "I never thought I'd see this again. Thanks Ryder, you're the best."

"Anything for you, buddy," said Ryder. "And you'll be pleased to know SHE is now locked up in our new underground prison."

"You're right, I am pleased. She deserves it."

"Who's that?" asked Mr. Porter as he came outside with Ryder's order.

"The horrible woman who took Dad's pocket knife," Alex answered with a scowl.

"Oh, yes. She was here this morning," said Mr. Porter.

"I heard," said Ryder, as he threw a carrot to each of the pups. "We were on the case right away, and of course we got her."

"Ah! Officer Ryder!" said a very enthusiastic Mayor Goodway as she made her way to the café.

"Hello, Mayor Goodway," Ryder laughed. "You know, you don't have to keep putting in the officer part."

"Oh, I know," Mayor Goodway replied as she sat down at the same table, "but it just has a nice ring to it!"

"Okay, I'll give you that," Ryder laughed again.

"So, Ryder," Mayor Goodway began as Mr. Porter brought out some tea for her, "how long will that red haired troublemaker be locked up down there?"

"Until she learns her lesson," Ryder answered. "Don't know how long that'll be, but it might take the rest of her life, and in all honesty that's gonna make Chase happy. And I'll let you right now; Mayor Humdinger is one shenanigan shy of being the prison's next inmate. And his cousin, the Cheetah, is a close second."

Upon hearing that name, Marshall woke up from his nap, let out a small bark, and growled.

"What?" Ryder asked him.

"Don't get me started with that stupid cheating snit!" Marshall said angrily through his teeth; but then calmed down when Ryder started rubbing his head, which lulled Marshall back to sleep, with Chickaletta sitting next to him and starting to fall asleep herself. Mayor Goodway gave Ryder a questioning look.

"He's been holding a grudge against her since the Adventure Bay 500," he said as he sat up. "However, he's been holding a bigger grudge against her since the 'Round the World Road Rally Championship. Let's just say he can now anticipate her every move, so she's not going to get away with cheating that easily, especially…"

Before Ryder could say anything else, his radio went off, which woke up the pups.

"_Attention all units, we have a 10-62 at the pet parlor on the main road in Adventure Bay." _

Ryder eyes went wide.

"Breaking and entering," said Chase, "at KATIE'S!"

"Dispatch, this is Ryder from Adventure Bay PD. I am 3 blocks away from said 10-62. I am on my way there right now."

"_Copy that, Ryder. Over and out." _

"We'll be right back," said Ryder as he got up.

"We'll watch everything," Alex chimed in.

"You're a good kid, Alex. Chase, Marshall, Skye, let's go!"

Ryder and the 3 pups ran at full speed all the way to Katie's Pet Parlor, where she and Cali were being held hostage. Skye flew up to the window on the roof, and took a peek inside.

"Skye to Ryder, looks like Katie and Cali are hiding in the back room. The suspect is in plain view, and has his back to the front door; you should be able to jump him."

"Copy that Skye," said Ryder. "Ryder to Ella and Tuck, meet us at Katie's Pet Parlor on the main road, and be ready to transport the suspect to the prison."

"We're on it," said the twins. Ryder watched as the suspect stood there and pulled out a weapon. That was the time to get him, so he and the 2 other pups charged in.

"ADVENTURE BAY POLICE! DROP THE WEAPON, GET DOWN ON THE GROUND, AND PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!"

The suspect tried to back away, only to bump into the counter, and get surrounded by Chase and Marshall, who were both growling at him, and Ryder who was pointing his own weapon at him. Fortunately for them, the suspect realised he was outnumbered, so he complied, and put his own weapon down on the ground. Ryder then whistled, signaling Skye to fly down and grab the weapon; and then Ryder took the opportunity to put handcuffs on him, just as the twins showed up. The suspect was charged for breaking and entering, and for carrying a concealed weapon in broad daylight, and sentenced to life in prison. After he was escorted out, Katie came out of hiding, with Cali following behind her.

"Ryder! Thank goodness," she said as she ran into his arms, and held him tight. "I knew you'd come and save us."

"Hey, you know I would never let anyone hurt my best friend," said Ryder, making Katie smile. Chase, Marshall and Skye awed at them, but then Marshall looked outside towards the café.

"Uh, Ryder. We need to go," he said worriedly. "I smell something fishy."

"What is it, Marshall?" Chase asked, but Marshall was getting way too anxious to answer.

"I gotta get going. Marshall's onto something," said Ryder, "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay," Katie smiled, watching Ryder leave with the pups.

"You should've kissed her Ryder," said Skye after getting outside.

"It'll happen one day," Ryder replied. "In fact, I'm going to marry her one day."

"You have it all planned out, don't you?" asked Chase, wondering what Ryder had in mind.

"Chase, Katie and I have known each other since we were babies," said Ryder. "And I've known for a long while that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, I just need to find the right time. Now let's go see what Marshall is on about."

Just as they were making their way back to the café, Mayor Humdinger, and his cousin Cheetah, were just arriving, most likely to cause trouble. Both Mayor Goodway and Alex were eyeballing them.

"Ooooh look at this sweet ride cousin!" said Cheetah, looking at Ryder's car. "I wonder how powerful it is."

"I'm not sure," said Mayor Humdinger, with the face of mischief, like he was plotting something.

"Shall we find out?" asked Cheetah after she noticed her cousin's mischievous look. But at that point, Marshall had jumped onto the hood of the car so he was just above Cheetah's eye level, and started growling at her.

"Marshall, down. And calm yourself," said Ryder as he approached, and Marshall jumped down and went to Ryder's side. Cheetah tried to approach them.

"And YOU," Ryder continued, "step away from my car."

"Why?" asked Cheetah. "What will you do? Last I saw you, you were just a kid."

Cheetah was inching closer at that point, causing Marshall to chomp at her, and growl some more.

"Heal, Marshall!" said Ryder. "I'm not a kid anymore. I'm 19, almost 20; and I just so happen to be the chief officer of the Adventure Bay Police Department, and if you try to steal any of my vehicles, or even so much as lay a finger on them, it will result in a federal charge. And knowing you, wanting to take whatever car parts you can to upgrade your race car."

"Pfft, good luck with that. Not!" Marshall barked.

"I got all the luck I need," Cheetah talked back, "especially with my 3 speeds; fast, faster and fastest!"

"Ha!" said Marshall. "More like bitch, crazy bitch, and psycho bitch!"

The other pups had trouble holding back their laughter when they heard Marshall say that. They never knew him to be that way; but when it came to the Cheetah, he was a totally different pup.

"Mayor Humdinger, I highly suggest you take your cousin and leave, before you make matters worse!" said Mayor Goodway, with her arms crossed.

"And keep in mind Mayor Humdinger," Ryder added, "you are one shenanigan shy of being the next inmate for the new underground prison. And your cousin here is a close second. So if I were you, I'd watch your backs."

"Fine, then" said Mayor Humdinger as he and Cheetah started to walk away, and Ryder and the pups went back to their table.

"Stupid bitch!" said Marshall under his breath.

"That's enough Marshall," said Ryder as he sat back down. "She's gone now."

"I know, but she makes me so mad!" Marshall growled.

"Calm down Marshall, it's okay," said Chase. "But I gotta admit, I've never seen you that mad before, especially with a potty mouth."

"Yeah, sorry," Marshall cowered. "I guess I lost my cool."

"We understand, dude," said Zuma. "If you ask me, I found it really funny that you talked down on her like she deserved it, because she did."

"Yeah, she did!" Rocky agreed. "Makes me wonder if she hates water."

"Are you saying next time I should just spray her with my water cannons?" asked Marshall, suddenly getting an idea as Rocky nodded. "That would make for the best prank ever!"

"Save it for later pups," Ryder chimed in, "time to head home."

They all said goodbye to everyone, and then loaded up into Ryder's car, and headed back to the Lookout.


	4. Feisty Marshall

**Thanks again for the great reviews! I knew you all would like a bit of a Cheetah roast going on. There will be more in the upcoming chapters, and you'll see more feisty Marshall too! Hehehe! **

**FYI, feisty Marshall is one of the reasons this story was rated T. That and the slight romance. Better safe than sorry, right? **

**Here's chapter 4! **

Ryder and the pups arrived back at the Lookout, after a long day of doing police work, combined with a Paw Patrol mission. They were all good pups, so they deserved to get out of their police uniforms, and enjoy a nice long playtime outside. Ryder changed out of his own police uniform and into his jeans and signature Paw Patrol jacket, and watched the pups play in the yard while he worked on his ATV, which he hadn't used in a while. He only used it to ride along the forest trails, as a snow mobile for the mountains, or as a jet ski for the water. For Paw Patrol missions, he used his Harley Davidson CVO which also had sirens, or his Expedition if he was transporting the pups and himself for a mission that doubled as police work.

Chase and Skye were relaxing together under a tree, every now and then stealing a kiss from one another. Sometimes they would be watching Zuma, Rocky and Rubble playing tag, and then getting interrupted by the sound of Marshall shaking a rope toy around and growling while doing so. They were all wondering why he was being so aggressive like that with a toy, it was not like him. He was normally playful and clumsy; but now it was like he changed right out of the blue, and the other pups were worried about him. They decided to take it upon themselves to confront Marshall about it.

"Marshall, can we talk?" asked Chase, putting his paw on the other end of the rope toy as Marshall continued to growl.

"What? Am I not allowed to play with a rope toy?" Marshall asked back, sounding irritated.

"Dude, this isn't like you," Zuma chimed in. "You're shaking the living daylights out of that toy like there's no tomorrow, you've completely destroyed Chewington like he was nothing, and you shredded this morning's newspaper within 20 seconds. What's going on dude?"

"Zuma's right, Marshall," said Chase. "You're not the same since we got home; in fact this has been going on for a while, and we're worried. Talk to us."

"I'm sorry," Marshall sighed. "I'm just trying to let out the rest of my anger before Everest gets here. I am normally calm when we come home, but of course Mayor Humdinger had to show up at the café with his bitch cousin."

"It's okay, Marshall," said Rocky. "We get it, you don't like…her. But did you have to completely destroy Chewington?"

"I guess not," said Marshall, looking at the rubber chew bone that was now chewed to bits. "I lost control. I just don't want Everest seeing me mad like this."

"She'll still love you either way," said Rubble. "Besides, you're usually very calm in her presence."

"That is one of the many things I love about her," Marshall added. "Whenever she's around, it calms me down."

"There you go," said Skye. "That's something to look forward to."

"And if you're going to take your anger out on a toy, do it properly," Chase added before grabbing one end of the toy. Marshall knew exactly what that meant.

"You're on!" he exclaimed, grabbing the other end of the toy, and both he and Chase started a round of Tug o' War.

"Here we go!" Zuma laughed as he and the other pups were cheering Chase and Marshall on; but it didn't last long, because the toy had managed to slip out of Chase's mouth, causing Marshall to fly backwards and land upside down on the grass with the toy wrapped around him.

"I'm okay!" he exclaimed as the other pups started laughing, just as Jake and Everest arrived.

"Jake! Everest!" they all called out in excitement.

"Hey pups!" said Jake as he went to go talk to Ryder. "Hey Ryder dude!"

"Hey Jake!" Ryder called back as he rolled out from under his ATV.

"Hey you," said Marshall as Everest approached him.

"Looks like you can use a paw," she said as she grabbed one end of the toy, giving it a good yank to untangle Marshall.

"Thanks my love," Marshall smiled as he kissed Everest.

"Love birds," Zuma laughed.

"Shut up!" said Marshall, making Everest giggle.

"Do they always tease you about us?" she asked.

"Mainly Rubble and Zuma," Marshall replied, turning to Zuma. "And that's TWICE today that that's happened."

"It's no big deal Marshall," Chase chimed in. "I remember when Skye and I first got together, and you actually joined those two in teasing us. But then you and Everest got together, they got bored with us, and decided to start teasing you two instead. Now imagine what'll happen when one of the other three gets a girlfriend, they will get bored with you and Everest, and move on to the next, and it'll just keep going on from there. So, enjoy the teasing while you can, because it won't last."

"Uh, I STILL tease you two," said Marshall. "Remember earlier I told you to get a room?"

"Oh yeah," Chase laughed, "but now I'll say the same for you two. Get a yard!"

"Never!" Marshall joked, causing the others to laugh.

"Speaking of earlier," said Everest, changing the subject, "how was your guys' day?"

"Good!" said Skye. "We finally caught Ladybird, so the prison finally has an inmate. And we saved Katie from and armed burglar; you should've seen us in action."

"And one thing that put a damper on the day, Bitcharella showed up at the cafe," Marshall added. Everest gasped.

"You mean, the very same Humdinger chick that called me that…horrible word?" she asked with a look of disgust.

"Yeah, and Marshall really talked down on her," said Rubble.

"And she totally deserved it," Zuma added.

"You should've seen the Cheetah's face when Marshall called her a…you know," said Rocky.

"Let's just say we had a hard time holding back our laughter when it happened," said Chase, "but other than that, it was a good day."

"And it looks like someone had some fun with the toys today," said Everest looking at the pieces of toy scattered around.

"Oh yeah, I did that," said Marshall, looking down to the ground. "I was really angry after our Humdinger encounter, and I really felt the need to relieve a good portion of that anger before you got here. I didn't want you seeing me like that."

Everest was surprised to hear that; her own boyfriend not wanting to be angry around her. That was a first.

"It's okay Marshall," she said as she hugged him. "I don't mind seeing you angry, especially when it comes to the Humdinger's. It just means you're trying to protect me; that's so sweet."

"What did I tell ya?" asked Rubble.

"Yes Rubble, you were right," said Marshall, "just remember to take it into account whenever you yourself get a girlfriend; and the same goes for you too, Rocky and Zuma."

"Pfft, dude, it'll happen when it happens," said Zuma. "For now, we're just gonna enjoy teasing you."

"Please don't," Marshall replied. "I'm just glad Everest is staying over tonight."

"Me too" Everest agreed, "and maybe I can actually get some sleep tonight. Unlike last night; Jake and Riff were going at it again."

"Are they really that loud?" asked Skye.

"It got to the point where I actually had to go outside with my headphones and turn my music up," said Everest as she sunk down to the ground.

"Don't worry love," Marshall chimed in. "You can stay right next to me tonight. The only thing you'll have to worry about is Rubble's snoring."

"Hey!" Rubble whined, "do I really snore that loud?"

"Yes!" everyone said at the same time.

"And here I thought Marshall and I were the loud ones," said Chase. "But no, it has to be you, Rubble."

"Especially if he dreams of food," Rocky added.

"Okay, you got me there," Rubble cowered as the other pups laughed. Jake and Ryder couldn't help but laugh as well after overhearing what the pups were talking about.

"Sounds like you and Riff are doing well," said Ryder once he stopped laughing.

"Yeah," said Jake. "But I do feel bad for keeping Everest awake. Makes me wonder if we do need to keep it down, so as to not have her continuously go outside for peace and quiet."

"It would be an idea," Ryder agreed. "Though it does sound like she's been looking forward to seeing Marshall all day."

"More like all week," Jake added. "Something tells me she wants to actually live here instead of just visiting on the weekends."

"We'll talk to her about it," said Ryder. "At least you guys came on a good day. The pups were looking forward to the Apollo the Super Pup Marathon tonight. And then tomorrow, we start setting everything up for the Adventure Bay Music Festival. We're all really excited about it, especially since Luke Stars is gonna be there."

"I still can't shake the fact he's now engaged to the princess of Barkingburg," said Jake.

"Me neither," Ryder agreed. "The other morning I was having coffee with Katie and we were talking about it, since she's in contact with the princess."

"Speaking of Katie," Jake chimed in, "sorry to change the subject, but have you kissed her yet?"

"I was SO close!" Ryder answered. "There was an armed suspect that had broken into the pet parlor this afternoon; Katie and Cali were hiding in the back, so they didn't get hurt, thankfully. Chase, Marshall and I charged in just as the suspect pulled out a gun. He knew he was outnumbered when we came in, so he surrendered, and when Skye flew down to grab the gun, she barked in the guy's face. Yeah, I know what you're thinking; she's become one fierce pup."

"How long does he get in prison?" asked Jake.

"Life," said Ryder. "There's no way I'm gonna let him back out after committing a break and enter, or for carrying a concealed weapon in broad daylight. It's people like him that make the world a dangerous place, but it's the job of someone like me to eliminate them, and make the world safe."

"You're a great police officer Ryder dude," said Jake. Ryder nodded.

"Just like my father before me," he replied. "I miss him every day; and I wish I knew where my mom was, if she's even alive. But that's what helps to keep me strong, and it inspires me to keep going, because I know deep down if I keep going, I can find her again."

"I know you will, dude."

"Ryder! Ryder!" Rubble shouted as he and the other pups ran over to the two adults. "Is it time yet?"

"Good question," said Ryder as he checked his phone. "Yep, it starts in ten minutes. Let's go."

They all went inside to the TV room, got settled with some snacks and pup treats, and spent the rest of the day, leading into the evening watching Apollo the Super Pup, and fell asleep not long after the re-runs started. Jake headed home, leaving Everest to stay over. Which was okay, because she was asleep right next to Marshall, who had his chin resting on her head. Ryder then went to bed, thinking to himself; 'you're all such good pups.'

The next morning, the pups were up early and having their breakfast before joining Ryder on his morning run. Today was the day the town was gathering at the soccer field to set everything up for the Adventure Bay Music Festival, and the pups were very excited to be performing on their own, and alongside their singer friend Luke Stars. The pups were even going to convince Ryder to perform, every year they kept trying but he never did. Ryder knew Mayor Humdinger would always find a way to sabotage a big event like this, so he always worked security. This year he wouldn't be alone; Alex was now old enough to do security work at big events that took place in Adventure Bay, mostly because he was being trained by the best: Ryder himself.

"Guys!" Rubble shouted as he ran to the other pups. "Ryder just got a call from Luke Stars, saying he's on his way here right now!"

"Yay!" the others howled in excitement.

"Can't wait to perform with him tomorrow," said Rocky.

"You said it dude, it's gonna be totally fun!" Zuma agreed.

"Let's just hope it doesn't get sabotaged like every other event this town has," said Skye.

"By someone like, oh, Mayor Humdinger?" asked Chase.

"More like Mayor Dumbdinger!" Marshall commented, making Everest laugh.

"Good one dude," Zuma laughed.

"Yeah, because he IS dumb!" said Rocky.

"Dumb enough to actually sabotage a big event like this? My spotted puppy dog ass!" said Marshall, as the other pups started laughing.

"Nice Marshall," said Rubble.

"Speak of the devil," said Everest as she looked past Rubble and noticed Mayor Humdinger coming towards them, with his cousin and nephew. "Or should I say devils."

Both Ryder and Alex noticed the Humdinger's making their appearance and they knew something was gonna go awry.

"Great. Now what do those maniacs want?" asked Alex, feeling really on edge.

"Probably to antagonise the pups again," Ryder sighed in annoyance. "Especially Marshall. Let's go Alex."

"What's going on here? And why am I not a part of it?" Cheetah asked with a scowl.

"Gee, I don't know," said Skye. "Maybe it's because…hmm. Oh yeah! You weren't invited."

"Yeah, so see ya! Wouldn't wanna be ya!" Everest laughed.

"Nice one, my love," said Marshall as he kissed Everest on her cheek.

"And what was that I just saw? Hmm?" asked Mayor Humdinger, pointing at Marshall and Everest.

"None of your collective beeswax, Mayor Dumbdinger!" said Rubble, which made the other pups laugh.

"Hey! You can't call him that!" Cheetah exclaimed.

"Oh yes he can," said Everest, "especially after you called me that horrible word!"

"Oh, you mean slut?" asked Cheetah. Everest yelped and started to cry as soon as that word was uttered, which caused Marshall to chomp at Cheetah

"How dare you say that to my girlfriend!" he shouted through his teeth as he went to comfort Everest. "And how dare you make her cry once again!"

"It's people like you three that we don't want to have at big events that go on in this town," said Chase. "Need I remind you of all the trouble you caused throughout the years the Paw Patrol has been active?"

"We don't need to be reminded," said Cheetah before Mayor Humdinger could even answer.

"Good! So how about you shut your bitch mouth!" Marshall snapped, getting more irritated.

"How about you put up with my genius brain?" Harold added.

"You're not a genius!" Marshall barked, "you're a stupid ass son of a bitch! Just like that stupid asshole you call your uncle!"

"Well, I never!" said Mayor Humdinger, stomping his foot.

"Who also happens to act like spoiled bratty little child!" Marshall added, before turning to Cheetah, practically getting right in her face. "Same goes for you too!"

"Wait!" she said. "So, you're saying I'm also acting like a spoiled bratty little child?!"

"Winner winner, chicken fucking dinner!"

"ALRIGHT, ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU!" Ryder yelled as he broke up the argument, and then turned to the Humdinger's. "You three, unless you wanna spend the rest of your lives in the underground prison in handcuffs, I highly suggest you clear out of here, never to return! And stop antagonising my dogs!"

With that, the Humdinger's turned away, and went back to Foggy Bottom where they belonged. Marshall silently backed up towards Everest to give her more comfort as she was still crying.

"Marshall!" Ryder spoke up, causing Marshall to freeze in his tracks. "Come talk to me."

Marshall went wide eyed, as did the rest of the pups. He looked at Everest to make sure she was going to be okay, only to be reassured by Skye that she would be.

"Marshall, I'm waiting!" Ryder called out. Marshall cowered as he walked.

"Uh oh," Zuma muttered. The other pups agreed with him; it did sound like Marshall was in trouble. Even Marshall felt the tension as he stepped in front of Ryder, who had his arms crossed, and his eyebrow raised. He was definitely in trouble.

"Marshall, never before in all the years you've been living with me, have I seen such behavior from you," said Ryder. "I wanna know what has gotten into you lately."

'Humdinger's, that's what!" Marshall snapped. "I can't stand them! Why do they have to come to our town and screw everything up? Huh? They got their own little town to terrorise, so why do they keep coming here?"

"I have no idea," Ryder answered. "But my question is, why do you keep getting worked up every time they come around?"

"You really wanna know?"

"Yes, I do. This isn't like you Marshall. Tell me what's going on."

Marshall thought for a moment, before taking a deep breath.

"It started after the 'Round the World Road Rally Championship," he said. "That snot-nosed bitch started taking her anger out on me because she lost, and because I defended the Whoosh before she could even lay it out on him too. And then, not long after that, she called Everest a slut."

Marshall turned away and let out a growl after saying that; he really did not like that memory of Everest being called that. Ryder was really surprised to hear that had actually happened, and he began to understand why Marshall was so upset.

"Now I understand why you're getting so worked up," he said. Marshall looked at him. "You were protecting Everest. We've been worried about you acting this way for so long and now I get it. To tell you the truth, I would've been just a little worked up, not too much, but still worked up enough to protect Katie, even though I still haven't confessed my feelings to her yet."

"You need to get on that," Marshall smirked.

"Yeah, I know," Ryder laughed. "I'll do it later. In the meantime, you should probably take the rest of the day to cool off before the dress rehearsal."

"Good idea. Catch you later," said Marshall as he started to make his way back to the Lookout. Everest also watched him leave as she went to Ryder's side.

"Are you okay Everest?" he asked.

"Hard to say at the moment," Everest replied. "I am worried about Marshall though."

"He'll be okay," said Ryder as he petted Everest on her head. "However, he is going to take the rest of the day off. And I think he'd be happy if you joined him, since you too had a tough morning."

Everest nodded in agreement as she smiled. She then went to follow Marshall back to the Lookout.


	5. When it's Love

**Thanks again for the reviews. I know many of you are taking a liking to feisty Marshall. Don't worry, that side of him will continue to pop up throughout the story. When it'll happen, you'll just have to keep reading to find out. In this chapter, you'll be seeing a few flashbacks. Now, one of you has been wondering about Ryder and Katie. Read and find out. **

**Here's chapter 5. **

"Since when does Adventure Bay have a police department?" asked Harold as he, his uncle and Cheetah entered their lair. "And since when did Ryder become a police officer? Let alone the chief of said police department?"

"If I'm not mistaken, it happened a year ago," said Mayor Humdinger.

"I still can't believe that stupid Dalmatian talked down on us like that! That's TWICE already!" Cheetah whined, crossing her arms.

"Yeah!" Harold agreed as he himself crossed his own arms. "And what gives him the right to name-call us like that?"

"Especially me!" Mayor Humdinger pouted.

"I really can't believe he called you 'dumb.' You're not dumb," said Cheetah, who then turned to Harold. "And you are not stupid, and your mom is not a…B word."

"Thanks," said Harold.

"But it still doesn't change the fact that we were not invited to this music festival they're holding," Cheetah added.

"Yeah, not fair!" said Mayor Humdinger, crossing his arms. "We need to find a way to sneak over there."

The kittens meowed in agreement upon hearing that.

"But you heard Ryder, it'll be a one way ticket to their underground prison if we get caught," Harold chimed in. "He knows we'll cause trouble. And besides, he's not gonna be working security alone this time; he's been training someone to work security with him, which will double our chances of being sent to prison. Especially since ALL the pups have police training as well."

"What are you suggesting we do, nephew?" asked Mayor Humdinger.

"The only thing we CAN do, Uncle Mayor," Harold replied, "stay here and stay out of trouble. I really don't wanna spend the rest of my life in jail."

"Me neither," Cheetah agreed.

"Sounds boring," said Mayor Humdinger. "But if it's the only way, then fine."

Everest continued up the long driveway leading to the Lookout, where she knew Marshall would be. After this last Humdinger encounter angering him to his wits end, she was worried about him, especially if Ryder called him out on his behaviour during the encounter. She didn't want him to be in trouble just for protecting her, but she knew that if that's what it took for Marshall to protect his girlfriend then he would do it. As Everest approached the Lookout, she went to Marshall's pup house hoping he would be there, only to see he wasn't. She started to get a little more worried until she heard a honking noise nearby, and when she looked over by one of the trees she saw Marshall laying in the shade with his headphones on, which was typical for him when it came to calming down, and he wasn't alone; the honking noise came from the goose that was sitting next to him, who Everest could only assume was Fuzzy.

She smiled at the sight of the two friends sitting together, and to her surprise, bird watching. She knew birds liked Marshall, but this was the first time seeing him bird watching. Everest started walking towards them, and as she got closer she could hear Marshall's music, which was pretty loud, but that too was typical for him as he was not one to be disturbed while he was in the calming down stage, and Everest knew well enough the kind of music Marshall was really into that kept him sane; metal and rock music. He was that kind of pup, especially since he was called a punk a few times, and there was only one reason as to why. It was the small spot that had appeared right by his lower lip a couple years prior, which made it look like he had a piercing, even though he didn't.

_Flashback_

"_What's that on Marshall's face?" asked Zuma, staring at the still sleeping Dalmatian. _

"_It looks like he gained a spot!" said Rubble getting a closer look. _

"_Shh, don't wake him," said Chase, just as Marshall was starting to stir, and then wake up. "Too late." _

"_Can I help you guys?" Marshall grumbled. _

"_Hey Marshall," Rocky began, trying not to giggle, "are you a punk?" _

"_Come again?" asked Marshall, looking confused. _

"_You gained a spot. Look," said Skye, pushing Marshall's water bowl towards him so he could see his reflection. And sure enough, there was a spot right by his mouth. _

"_Huh, how about that?" he said. "I guess I did gain a spot. Nothing out of the ordinary." _

"_Yeah but look at where it is," said Rubble. _

"_Yeah, so?" said Marshall. _

"_What's going on pups?" asked Ryder, coming towards them with their breakfast. _

"_Marshall's a punk!" said Rocky. _

"_Okay, you can stop calling me that," said Marshall, getting annoyed. _

"_But, that spot looks like a piercing, dude," Zuma added. "And it makes you look like a punk." _

"_Hey! Shut up!" said Marshall, now getting really irritated. _

"_Don't push it, guys," said Chase, trying to stop it all. _

"_But, it's true! Look!" Rubble added, pushing Marshall to his limits. _

"_HEY! I SAID SHUT THE HELL UP!" he shouted. _

"_Okay, calm down Marshall," Ryder intervened. "And pups, leave him alone. Just because he gained a spot by his mouth, doesn't mean you have to call him a punk." _

"_Thanks Ryder," said Marshall, walking over to his bowl for breakfast. _

"_I told you guys to stop, but did you listen? No. You didn't! Geez," said Chase as he walked over to join Skye for breakfast. The rest of the pups started feeling really guilty after that. _

_End of Flashback _

It was ever since that day he started acting a little more, let's just say, like a rebel, and getting less clumsy every day, even though there was still the odd time when he was clumsy; such as yesterday when he and Chase were having that round of Tug o' War and he flew backwards. Everest thought about that just to put a smile on her face as she continued towards him, and the music got louder the closer she got to Marshall. At this point, she was close enough that Marshall could see a figure out of the corner of his eye, and smiled when he noticed it was Everest coming towards him. Fuzzy gave two more small honks before flying off.

"See you later Fuzzy," said Marshall as he looked back towards Everest, and shut off his music and removed his headphones. "Hey sweetie."

"Hi," said Everest as she laid down next to him. "Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah," Marshall replied. "Just as long as we don't have another encounter with those damn Humdingers, we should all be happy."

"Agreed," said Everest. "And since when do you bird watch?"

"Since birds like me," Marshall laughed. "But before, I was reading the newest issue of Apollo the Super Pup, and then Fuzzy came around just as I finished. And now you're here, and I'm happy."

"Me too," said Everest. "So much so that I would love to hear you read one of your books to me."

"I got just the thing," said Marshall as he got up and ran to his pup house to grab one of his books. He was quite the reader of many fantasy novels, among many others; he read while listening to his music, which really helped to calm him down whenever he was worked up. He came back with a book Everest longed to have read to her, and she wagged her tail as soon as Marshall plunked it down in front of her.

"The Hobbit!" she piped up. "I remember you talking about this book, and Lord of the Rings."

"They are my favourite books in the whole world; I could read them day and night," Marshall smiled as he laid down and started reading to his girlfriend, who smiled as she listened, laughed at whatever parts in the book that were funny; and whatever parts she couldn't understand, Marshall gladly explained them as he had read that book, along with its sequels and other related stories, many times in the past. He read, until they both fell asleep, and they slept well through the rest of the morning into the early afternoon, until Marshall's pup tag went off.

"Marshall, come in."

It was Ryder.

"I'm here Ryder," Marshall yawned. "What's up?"

"Sorry if I woke you up, but if you're ready to come back, we could use your help," said Ryder.

"Okay, we're on our way. Marshall out."

"Was that Ryder?" asked Everest as she woke up.

"Yeah, he needs help with something," said Marshall as he kissed Everest.

"Okay."

They got up and made their way back to the soccer field where the stage was being set up for the music festival, and the pups were relieved to see Marshall smiling.

"Phew, glad you're okay," said Chase.

"Me too," said Marshall.

"I think he'll be even more okay if the Humdinger's don't show up again," said Rocky.

"Yeah, those shit disturbers ain't worth my time," Marshall agreed, just as Ryder was approaching.

"Language please," he said.

"Oops!" said Marshall as he cowered with a small smile, making the other pups laugh. "Anyway, you said you needed help Ryder?"

"More like SHE needs help," said Ryder, addressing the young blonde haired woman behind him, who looked very worried.

"I'll stay here and help Alex," said Everest.

"Thanks Everest," Ryder said again, before turning to Alex. "Are you two gonna be okay here?"

"We should be," Alex answered. "But if we need to, we'll call you."

"We'll be back in a bit."

With that, Ryder and the pups escorted the young woman off the field, and Alex and Everest went back to work.

"Are you okay Alex?" she asked, noticing the look on Alex's face.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he answered. "This is actually the most I've seen Ryder in quite a while. I used to see him all the time, and now that he's a full time police officer, while also being Paw Patrol's leader, and me being busy with starting high school next month and helping my grandfather at the café, it's understandable that we're both too busy to hang out all the time. I remember a few years ago, when I didn't understand it at all."

_Flashback_

_Summer vacation had just begun; Alex had just finished the first grade, and was looking forward seeing Ryder and the pups, not knowing during the summer they would start getting busier than ever. Especially with the rising temperatures all over Adventure Bay, and summers getting hotter every year, the Paw Patrol had their paws full with trying to cool everything down; a lot of that was up to Marshall since he was the firefighter, so he had the expertise with cooling things down; and he was a medical practitioner, so he could help to keep people from getting heat stroke. Alex helped out in every way he could while trying to not get in the way, but a lot of what the Paw Patrol was doing involved heavy lifting and some minor situations that seemed not overly dangerous, but dangerous enough for a small boy like Alex to get seriously hurt. He understood; but what he didn't understand was the fact that over the next few years, he began to see Ryder and the pups less and less, but especially Ryder. He looked up him like a brother, and whenever he didn't see him he missed him. _

_That was especially when the year came when Alex was 10 and had just finished the fourth grade, and saw Ryder maybe only once that summer. He was really worried Ryder didn't want to see him anymore, which made him really sad. And the following summer, he didn't see him at all. Mr. Porter took notice to the sad look on Alex's face, and decided to talk to him. _

"_What's the matter Alex?" he asked. _

"_I never see Ryder anymore," Alex answered, with tears starting to come out of his eyes. "Does he not want to see me anymore?" _

"_Of course he wants to see you Alex," said Mr. Porter, putting his hand on Alex's back. "But you do have to remember, Ryder is 16 now, he's growing up, and he's becoming busy with other stuff. And believe it or not you're growing up too; I still can't believe you're 11. But if you want, I can ask Ryder if he can talk to you." _

_Alex nodded, and Mr. Porter went back outside to serve a customer, and when he finally had a minute, he called Ryder._

"_Hi Mr. Porter," said Ryder as he answered the call on his pup pad, before starting to officially use a phone. _

"_Hi Ryder," said Mr. Porter. "I'm wondering if you could come talk to Alex. If and when you have the time." _

"_Is everything okay?" asked Ryder. _

"_Not really," Mr. Porter replied. "Alex feels like you don't want to see him anymore. I told him it's not true, but I think he would understand better if he heard it from you. He does think of you as a brother after all." _

_Ryder smiled upon hearing that; he even thought of Alex as a brother, and to hear about Alex being sad and feeling like he didn't want to see him anymore, he knew what he had to do. _

"_I'll be right there," he said. _

"_Shall I have a glass of iced tea ready for you?" asked Mr. Porter. _

"_That would be great, thank you," Ryder answered before ending the call, and then turning to the pups. _

"_Everything okay Ryder?" asked Chase as he saw Ryder going towards his motorcycle. _

"_Mr. Porter needs me to go talk to Alex," said Ryder, putting on his helmet and jacket. "I'll be right back." _

_With that, he rode off down the driveway and headed across the bridge towards town, waving to Katie as he passed the pet parlor. He then pulled up in front of the café, where Mr. Porter was standing with a glass of freshly brewed iced tea for him. _

"_Where is he?" asked Ryder. _

"_He's sitting over there," said Mr. Porter, pointing to the table closest to the door. Ryder then walked over to the table and sat down next to Alex. _

"_Hey buddy," he said. _

"_Hi Ryder," Alex replied, still feeling really sad. "Grandpa told you, didn't he?" _

"_He told me you were under the impression I didn't want to see you anymore. Am I right?" Ryder asked. Alex had tears in his eyes as he nodded. Ryder hugged him. "It's okay Alex; I understand why you're feeling that way." _

"_You do?" asked Alex. _

"_Yes," Ryder answered, "and I'm sorry you're feeling that way. Now, I want you to listen to me very carefully. It's not that I don't want to see you, because believe me when I say, I do. I know I've been really busy lately, and again I'm sorry for that; I've been helping Marshall go through advanced first-aid courses so that he can be a fully licenced medical practitioner, as well as being the fire pup. And not only that, I've been making some preparations; starting next year, I'll be attending the police academy in Toronto, and Chase will be coming with me." _

"_How long will you be gone?" Alex asked again. _

"_A few months," said Ryder. "However, I will be back during the holidays. I start next September, and I'll only be gone until June. And when I get back, Adventure Bay will have its very own police department, led by me, and I'll have the pups working with me. But know this; I won't miss a single day of you growing up, I promise." _

_End of Flashback_

"And he really kept true to that promise," said Alex. "Ryder was in contact quite a bit while he was gone; he even let me stay at the Lookout with the other pups. They were lonely without both Ryder and Chase, but at least we kept each other company."

"Ryder's right you know," said Everest, "you really are a good kid."

Alex smiled as he and Everest got back to work with setting everything up. Ryder and the pups arrived at the office with the young woman, who was really nervous.

"Have a seat," said Ryder as he went behind his own desk, with the pups gathered next to him. "Now, what can we do for you?"

"Well, I'm Anne Sanderson, and I'm here about my boyfriend, Daniel Colleridge."

"Daniel Colleridge," said Ryder, giving it some thought.

"You'd probably know him as Daring Danny X," said Anne.

"We're friends," Ryder nodded.

"Well, he's been missing since Tuesday," Anne said again. "He left for work that morning, and he never came home."

"That's not good," said Chase.

"Yeah, he's supposed to be performing with his band at the festival tomorrow," said Marshall. "And Ryder, you're working security."

"That still doesn't stop us," said Ryder. "We'll search all over town today, but we'll need backup for the outer borders. I got some friends from the academy who are part of the Kirkland County Police Department just south of here. I'll give the sheriff a call and ask if he can spare a few of his troops to search over the weekend. Danny works at the skate park, right?"

"Yeah," Anne nodded.

"Then that's where we'll start," said Rocky as he stood up.

"Not so fast, Rock," said Marshall, sitting Rocky back down.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because we can't ALL start in one place," Chase answered. "There are many places where we know Danny likes to hang out, and he could be in any of those places."

"You've got a very good point there, Chase," said Ryder. "We'll have to split up to cover a lot of ground before sun down. In the meantime; Anne, I highly recommend you stay home where you'll be safe, and I'll give you a call if we hear anything."

With that, Ryder and the pups split up, and searched in every possible place Danny could be; even at the skate park where he worked, until the sun started to set. So they didn't get to do the dress rehearsal, but that was okay. They decided to practise at the Lookout, and they even invited Luke Stars to practise with them, which made for a very fun evening. Later that night, the pups were gathered outside around a small campfire Marshall had made, and discussing their day. Everest even heard about Daring Danny X going missing, and even she was worried.

"That's terrible," she said.

"I know," Skye agreed. "And we checked everywhere. Now I feel like we failed."

"No Skye," said Chase as he kissed her. "We did not fail. Search and rescue missions like this take time. Plus you heard Ryder; he's got friends with the Kirkland County Police who can help out, so we're not alone in this."

"I hope he's found soon," Zuma added, before looking over to Ryder walking down the driveway. "Where's Ryder going?"

"Probably for one of his night time walks," Marshall answered, just as he started smiling mischievously. "And I think I know where he's going."

Marshall wasn't wrong; Ryder was heading towards Katie's. He decided it was time to take Marshall's advice, and just go ahead and confess his feelings to Katie, because the waiting had gone on long enough. They were no longer children, Ryder was almost 20, and he loved Katie with every being in his body. And for this walk, he figured he'd invite her. As he approached the pet parlor, he smiled as he watched Katie doing the end of the day clean up.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," said Katie with a smile. "What're you up to?"

"I was going for an evening walk, and I wondered if you'd like to join me," said Ryder. Katie could do nothing but smile upon hearing his offer.

"I'd love to," she said.

Ryder helped her finish up, and they set out on their walk around town, which they hadn't done in a while. It was just like old times for them.

"Wow, really?" asked Katie after hearing about Chase and Skye becoming a couple. "When did that happen?"

"Just a couple years ago," Ryder answered. "It was during one of our Ultimate Rescue missions.

_Flashback_

_Ryder and the pups rode in Skye's ultimate helicopter all the way to the island, where Rumbletop was once again smoking, and getting ready to erupt. They managed to rescue the Turbot's from an old tree at the bottom of the mountain that was cracking near the middle of the trunk, and hanging over a chasm that had a river boiling lava within. But now, all they had to do was try and save whatever animals were on the slope side of the chasm, before the mountain officially blew its top. It took some doing, but they managed to get the animals to safety, however, there was a young mountain goat that needed rescuing, and it was stuck in a small crevice; unfortunately there was only one pup small enough to fit into that particular crevice. Skye. _

_She prepared herself for the jump, knowing it was dangerous, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from saving the poor goat. Before she could, she was stopped by a concerned voice. _

"_Skye, wait!" _

_Just as she turned around, Chase had come right up to her, and kissed her full on the mouth. The pups were completely shocked. Chase pulled away after a while. _

"_Be careful," he said. Skye nodded, took a deep breath, and jumped down to the crevice. Without any trouble at all, she managed to get the young goat out of danger, and back with its mama. All the animals were now safe and sound, and everyone headed home after a long day. While the other pups slept, Chase and Skye stayed up, and talked. It was actually more of a love confession, followed by yet another kiss. _

_End of Flashback_

"They've been together ever since," said Ryder. "About time too."

"I'll say," Katie agreed. "They've been showing it for quite a while, but they waited until that point to confess?"

"They're not the only ones," Ryder added. "Marshall and Everest are a couple too. Remember a couple summers ago, there was that wildfire on Jake's mountain?"

"Right," Katie replied. "That was quite the ordeal."

_Flashback_

_That summer was the hottest, and all of Adventure Bay was suffering from a major drought, so much so that out of the blue, a small camp fire got out of control and started a forest fire up on the mountain. Everest was riding her snowcat along the trails, making sure there was no one around. Unfortunately for her, she hit a bump which caused her snowcat to flip over and she fell into a pit, causing damage to her pup pack, and her pup tag cracked, making it hard to contact anyone. She had no way of getting out, as the pit was way too deep, and her snowcat was covering the opening. The only thing she could do was howl. _

_Marshall could see and smell the smoke all the way from the Lookout, and he knew something was wrong, and it called for an Ultimate Fire Rescue. They wasted no time, and charged up the mountain to put out the massive wildfire, only to learn from Jake that Everest was missing. Marshall went wide eyed at the sound of that, and he knew they had to go find her. They all continued up the mountain, putting out fires along the way. After some time, they heard a faint howling sound; Marshall knew that howl anywhere and it could only belong to one pup. _

_Everest._

_She was close. _

_They soon spotted the flipped over snowcat, and they ran towards it. Sure enough, they found her. They flipped the snowcat back up, and the big hose was lowered down, and Everest grabbed a hold of and was pulled out of the pit. The now exhausted Husky who was shaking with exhaustion and fright, was taken back to Jake's cabin, where she rested while the rest of the pups contained the wildfire until it was fully under control, and out. They returned to the cabin, and Marshall gave Everest a quick check up. _

"_She's exhausted, but her vitals are normal," he said. Jake sighed with relief as he started to relax. Marshall continued to watch her. _

"_Thank you Marshall," said Everest as she hugged him. "I was starting to lose my voice from all that howling. But since my pup tag broke, along with my pup pack, I did the only thing I could to make as much noise as possible to make sure you found me." _

"_You did good Everest, and I'm glad you're okay," Marshall replied as he kissed her, making both of their hearts skip a beat. They loved each other, there was doubt about it. _

_End of Flashback_

"Aww, that is so sweet," said Katie. "I've been wondering what was going on between those two."

"There's no denying it, that's for sure," Ryder agreed, just as he and Katie stopped by the beach.

"I can remember a time when you and I had a rolling competition down this hill," said Katie, as she looked at the small hill. "Race you down?"

"Why not?" Ryder laughed as he rolled up his sleeves. After saying the word, they leapt down and rolled down the hill, and then stopped as soon as they got to the beach, where they laid there laughing like crazy. "Just like old times!"

They both continued to laugh for a bit, almost as if they were children once again.

"Oh hey," Katie piped up, "you got another tattoo."

"I've actually had that one for a while," said Ryder.

And it was not the only one he had. He had the pups' names and pup tags tattooed on his arms, but that larkspur with Katie's name underneath it had special meaning to him. Not only was it her birth flower, it was a symbol of his love for her. As Katie looked at it, she knew. Even just looking up into his eyes, it was obvious he loved her, and he didn't even need to say it.

He just leaned down, and kissed her. The passion was strong, and they knew it was true. He pulled away and stared at her, just smiling like it was all meant to be, because it was. He sat up, and pulled her into his arms, and kissed her once again, never wanting to let go.


	6. Tragedy Strikes

**Hi everyone. Before we start, I have something important to say. **

**An anonymous reviewer posted a review, which has since been removed, unrelated to the story accusing me of not paying attention to my 3 year old child. I'm going to make a couple things perfectly clear. **

**1: My daughter goes to daycare 5 days a week, which leaves me at home to do household chores before I go to do my 2 night jobs. My husband and I take turns driving her to and from daycare. I then play with and take care of my daughter until she goes to bed, after which point I have at least an hour or two to myself, and I have one day out of the week where my husband takes our daughter out to the park, or to her grandmother's house for the day, leaving me to catch up on sleep and do whatever I want. To the person who wrote that comment: no, Child Protective Services doesn't know me, because I did absolutely nothing wrong; and it is NOT a crime to have a hobby to do during your "me time." If I did something wrong to bring HARM to my child, I would be in jail right now. But I'm not, and I've been told by my own parents, and other people who have known me for all my 27 years, that I'm a great mom. Anyone who says otherwise is a fool, because they don't know me. **

**2: I'm okay with anonymous reviews, HOWEVER; any anonymous reviews that are mean or unrelated to the Fanfiction site will be deleted. If you don't have anything nice to say, please don't say anything, it makes people feel unwanted. **

**That's my clarification. Now back to the story. Here's chapter 6, where you'll learn about when Marshall became Feisty Marshall, and other things that occur. And there is a spoiler alert from a movie called Snow Dogs. If you've seen it, then you'll know. **

The day finally came, and the entire town gathered at the soccer field for the Adventure Bay Music Festival. Ryder had gotten confirmation that the Kirkland County Police would help out to find Daring Danny X, while he was busy working security. He and the pups stood backstage; the pups were warming up with Luke Stars, and singing random songs just for fun and laughing with each other. Katie stood by Ryder's side and he had his arm around her, and every now and then planting kisses on her head; and it didn't take long for the pups, especially Marshall, to figure it out. They were finally together.

"You two look so cute together," said Skye with a big smile on her face.

"So do you and Chase," said Katie.

"Ryder, did you tell her?" asked Chase.

"Hey, she asked," Ryder answered.

"He also told me about Marshall and Everest," Katie added.

"Ryder!" Marshall barked as Katie giggled and hid behind Ryder.

"Uh oh," Everest laughed.

"Once again, she wanted to know," said Ryder. "At least I didn't tell her about when you started swearing."

"When did he start swearing?" asked Katie. Ryder looked at Marshall.

"Go ahead, she asked," said Marshall.

"It started a few years ago. Have you ever seen the movie Snow Dogs?" Ryder asked. Katie nodded. "Then you'll understand what happened."

_Flashback_

_One December morning, all the pups were lying in different parts of the yard; some were chatting, some were playing, and one was napping. That one being Marshall, he always napped after lunch, and he always listened to music while doing so. And no matter what they were doing, they always kept a watchful eye on the property, especially ever since the Humdinger's started causing more trouble around town. Ever since the time the meteor hit and Harold tried to destroy the town with his giant robot, Ryder thought it would be a good idea to install a security system and fencing around the property to protect the Lookout, just to be on the safe side. That meant all the pups became guard pups; however Marshall was the ultimate guard pup, as he had developed quite the attitude since the Cheetah kept trying to take him down at every Adventure Bay 500 Championship since the 'Round the World Road Rally, and Marshall was getting tired of it; hence him starting to get riled up every time any one of the Humdinger's showed up. _

_Skye would keep watch from the air from time to time, but she would mostly be chatting or playing. She did, however, catch a glimpse of Harold making an attempt to trespass onto the property, all by himself. The other pups were afraid to wake Marshall up, because he would be one grumpy pup if they did, but they had to use it to their advantage to try and get Harold to leave; and if anyone could chase somebody away from the Lookout, it was Marshall. He learned a few skills from Chase, so he himself could deal with the Humdinger's as they smelled strongly of cats, and it would always trigger Chase's allergies. _

"_Should we wake him?" asked Rocky. _

"_Not yet," said Chase. _

"_Good, because I'm scared to," Rubble added, keeping a good distance away from Marshall. _

"_Too late," said Skye, pointing at Marshall who yawned and shut off his music. _

"_What's up guys?" he asked as he removed his headphones. _

"_Harold Humdinger, your 8 o'clock," said Rocky pointing at Harold, who had somehow managed to climb over the fence and into the yard, without tripping the alarm. Marshall was not happy at all when he turned around, and saw Harold standing there. _

"_How did that little brat get in here," he snarled through his teeth. _

"_Beats me," said Zuma before turning to Harold, "but he NEEDS TO GO!" _

"_Why don't you make me?" asked Harold. _

_The other pups gasped. That did it. Marshall, who was once the clumsiest, and yet kindest of all the pups, started to growl, and get ready to pounce. _

"_Uh, Harold," Chase began, getting worried, "you literally have a 5 second head start, so you better start running right now!" _

"_5 second head start?" asked Harold, completely confused. _

"_4," said Chase, counting down as Marshall was getting ready. _

"_Why a head start?" _

"_3." _

"_But… But…" _

"_2." _

"_You better run you piece of shit," Marshall growled under his breath, unaware he was heard. _

"_Uh oh," said Harold in a panic. _

"_1." _

_It was on. Marshall leaped up and started barking like crazy as he chased Harold all around the property, interrupting Ryder from whatever he was doing on the balcony of the Lookout so he could see what was going on down in the yard. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Marshall, of all the pups, chasing Harold, and he thought to himself: 'how did he get past the security system? And what has gotten into Marshall these days?' It didn't matter at that particular moment; he needed to get down there before anyone got hurt. Luckily no one got hurt; however, Marshall continued to chase Harold around for a good 10 minutes before Harold climbed up one of the nearby trees. That didn't stop Marshall though; he stood on his hind legs with his front paws on the trunk of the tree, and continued barking angrily up at Harold, who sat on one of the branches. _

"_YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME YOU LITTLE TWIT!" Marshall shouted, as the pups watched from afar. _

"_Can so!" said Harold. _

"_Not on your life! You'll have to come down sometime! And I'll be right here waiting to chase your stupid little ass outta here!" _

"_Now that you mention it, I can just wait until you either give up or go to sleep, and then I'll make my escape!" _

_Marshall thought for a minute; Harold was trying to taunt him, like he did with the other pups and Ryder when they first got their super powers. Marshall then had an idea. _

"_So you're telling me you can be so patient, you would be willing to wait for as long as it takes?" he asked. _

"_If I have to," Harold sneered. _

"_Fine then! Suit yourself! Ya little shit." _

_With that, Marshall shifted closer, lifted his leg and peed on the trunk of the tree, with the biggest smirk on his face. _

"_THAT'S DISGUSTING!" Harold whined as he plugged his nose. _

"_Ahh! That feels much better! Enjoy your new home!" Marshall called out as he scampered off while singing 'Operate' by Three Days Grace. The others were shocked to see what had just happened. _

"_Dude, did you just play out that scene from Snow Dogs where Demon chases the guy up the tree?" asked Zuma. _

"_You bet your puppy dog asses I did!" Marshall laughed as he skipped over to his bowl for a drink of water, leaving the other pups to continue laughing themselves; until Ryder came outside, and Marshall hid inside his pup house giggling silently. _

"_Pups, may I ask what part of any of this is funny?" Ryder asked, crossing his arms. _

"_You may wanna ask Marshall," said Chase, trying to hold back his laughter. "He's the one who sent Harold up the tree." _

_The pups continued laughing as Ryder raised his eyebrow and then turned towards Marshall's pup house, and Marshall peeked out with a mischievous smirk still on his face. _

"_Come here Marshall," he said. Marshall, still giggling, came out of his pup house, and crawled towards Ryder as if he was moving as quiet as a mouse; just like his Pup Fu maneuver. "Would you like to explain to me why Harold is stuck in the tree?" _

"_He trespassed," Marshall replied, still smirking, "so I chased him up the tree, and then he refused to come down, so I trapped him up there by taking a huge piss on the trunk! Ha ha ha!" _

"_Help!" Harold called out. "I'm starting to get cold! And it smells too! Blech!" _

_Everyone laughed at him; including Ryder, surprisingly. Now that he was a teenager and becoming more strict towards certain things, it was starting to get a little tricky to please him. _

"_Am I in trouble Ryder?" asked Marshall, still laughing. _

"_No Marshall," Ryder answered as he too continued to laugh. "I'm gonna let this one slide. Happy Birthday buddy." _

"_Thanks!" _

"_And by the way," Ryder continued as he and the pups started walking towards the tree. "If Marshall knows that scene all too well, then you pups have watched Snow Dogs way too many times." _

"_What can we say? It's our favourite movie!" said Rubble, making the other pups laugh. _

"_Okay, I'll give you that one" said Ryder as he and the pups stopped at the tree where Harold was trying to climb higher up, but was struggling. Ryder once again raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Having some trouble up there?" _

"_Hey you try getting away from the smell of pup urine," said Harold, plugging his nose again. "Ugh, it really stinks!" _

"_Yes, yes it does," said Ryder with a smile on his face. _

"_How are you not fazed by it?" _

"_I have owned dogs all my life, so I'm used to it," Ryder answered. "But you do need to come down from there; Chase, Marshall, give me a boost." _

_Chase and Marshall stood side by side, and gave Ryder that boost; which was no trouble because those two pups were about the same height as each other, and Ryder was tall enough to only need their help to get to the height he needed for Harold to get onto his shoulders and climb down safely. _

"_Thanks," he said with a scowl, as he climbed down and nearly touched Marshall. _

"_Don't touch me!" Marshall barked, nearly chomping Harold. _

"_You might want to listen to him," said Ryder as he stepped down off of the pups and straightened his T-shirt hoodie. _

"_Says the kid who is tall and has a low voice for an 11 year old," Harold sneered, thinking Ryder was his age. Chase put his paw over his face in annoyance as Marshall started to growl, and the rest of the pups gave Harold the stink eye and shook their heads at him. _

"_Okay, for the record, I'm 14," Ryder said again with a slight glare. "And another thing, I would like for you exit my property, and through the gate like you're supposed to." _

"_Yeah, the gate and fence, along with our new security system, are there for a reason," Chase added. _

"_Yeah," Marshall agreed, "to keep stupid little brats like you OUT! So, bye!" _

"_That's enough you two," said Ryder. _

"_Alright! I'll leave," said Harold as he walked down the driveway, through the gate and down the road back to Foggy Bottom. Marshall on the other hand, scampered back to his pup house, singing Happy Birthday to himself while the others laughed. _

_End of Flashback_

"Best birthday ever!" said Marshall as he thought back to that day.

"Now, when did he start celebrating his birthday?" asked Katie.

"A year after that day of the 5 incidents," Ryder answered.

"It was quiet though," said Marshall. "After going through all those incidents, I figured I would start staying close to home and take it easy. And it worked."

"Except you would keep tripping over the toys," said Rubble.

"Yeah, but that was an exception," Marshall said again. "The main thing is I avoided getting involved in major accidents since the day I broke my paw. But the day I chased Harold up the tree is my favourite memory of all time."

"It was also around the time his voice started getting low long before the rest of us," said Chase.

"Yeah, but Ryder's voice is still much lower than mine," said Marshall.

"But you, Marshall, are a close second," said Ryder. "And Chase is a close third."

"And I sound like a kid," Zuma whined.

"Well, not like a kid per say," said Marshall. "More like a young teenager. Which is okay, don't get me wrong. It's just who you are."

Zuma couldn't help but smile when Marshall said that, especially since he always looked up to Marshall as a big brother. He then looked out of the corner of his eye, and saw four young men approaching Ryder.

"Hey, Chief," one of them said. Ryder only knew them as Daring Danny X' bandmates. "Sorry to bother you, but we're wondering if you've heard anything as to where Danny might be."

"Unfortunately not, fellas," Ryder answered. "We've searched in all of the places he likes to hang out and no luck yet. My colleagues from the Kirkland County RCMP are continuing the search today; so if push comes to shove, you may have to go on without him."

"We may have to do just that," said another band mate.

"Agreed," said the first guy.

"I'll keep you posted if we hear anything," said Ryder.

They nodded and thanked him before turning around and walking away, leaving Ryder and the pups more worried than ever. They knew they had to find Danny, and soon. When the crowd started cheering as the band went on, they didn't care if they were one man down, they gave it their all, and they did good. After that, Luke went on with the pups and had a great time. Ryder smiled as he watched; until he saw an explosion in the distance. He knew it was close, so he got on stage, took the microphone and told everyone to follow the pups back their homes in an orderly fashion.

"Marshall, where did that explosion come from?" Ryder asked, knowing Marshall was eyeing the smoke.

"You have to see it to believe it," he answered. Just as the rest of the pups were returning from escorting the residents to safety, the only two left were Katie and Alex, who were making sure nobody was left behind.

"Is everybody out of here?" asked Ryder as Alex and Katie came running to him.

"Yes," Alex replied. "We've checked under and behind the bleachers, and all around the perimeter, not a person in sight."

"Good job Alex," said Ryder before turning to Katie. "Take my motorcycle, get yourself and Alex back to town, and stay indoors whatever you do."

"What about you?" asked Katie in worry.

"The pups and I have to go to wherever that explosion occurred, find out who and what caused it, and check for survivors," Ryder answered as he gave Katie the spare key to his CVO.

"Be careful," said Katie as she hugged Ryder ever so tightly.

"I will, and you stay safe, and call me if you need help," said Ryder as he kissed her. Katie nodded, and then rode off back to town with Alex as Ryder called the pups to attention, and gave them their tasks for this particular mission.

"Pups, as you can see, there's been a massive explosion in the distance," Ryder announced. "We need to get over there, find the source of the explosion, and search for any possible survivors."

"Where did the explosion come from?" asked Skye.

"Marshall," said Ryder as he turned to the angry looking Dalmatian.

"Foggy Bottom," said Marshall through his teeth. "I'll bet you anything that dumbass Mayor Humdinger did it just to get attention."

"Marshall, I know you don't like the Humdinger's, but there's no need for language," said Ryder as Marshall lowered his head in annoyance. "And we won't know for sure who's responsible until we get there and check it out. Skye, I'll need you and your helicopter in the air to find the source of the explosion, and keep me informed if you find anything, suspicious or not. Zuma, I'll need you to ride your hovercraft along the coast, keep me informed of any survivors on the beach, and the condition of Mayor Humdinger's lair. Chase and Marshall, I'll need you to grab your trucks and drive ahead to search for survivors on the ground, and put out any fires you happen to come across. Rubble and Rocky, you two ride along with me. Let's go."

They all split up accordingly and went about their tasks; Skye used her goggles to look around, and found something very frightening to her.

"Skye to Ryder! I just snapped a photo of something you need to see! It may be where the explosion occurred! And you're heading right towards it!"

"Thanks Skye," said Ryder as he pulled the Expedition over, and looked at the photo on his phone and was in total shock with what he saw. "Take a look at this Rocky."

"I remember seeing something like that when we went to California 6 years ago," said Rocky as he took a closer look. "It looks like the pyramid in the eye on those American one dollar bills, but with an X through it. Mayor Humdinger wouldn't do something like this; but it looks like whoever did is a Satan Worshiper."

"I think you might be right," Ryder agreed, as his radio went off.

"Tuck to Ryder, come in! Quick!"

"What is it, Tuck?" asked Ryder.

"Ladybird has escaped! And so did the suspect who broke into the pet parlor the other day!" said Tuck in a panic. "He knocked Ella out as he ran past and out through the Rock Island entrance."

"Thanks Tuck, we'll be on the lookout for both of them. Over and out," said Ryder as he hung up. "This is not good."

"Marshall to Ryder! That symbol Skye found was the source of the explosion; whoever is behind it buried some dynamite into the ground in that particular pattern, and now all of Foggy Bottom is scorched. There's literally nothing left."

"Have you found any survivors?" Ryder asked.

"Negative," Marshall replied. "A big explosion like what we saw, it left a God awful mess. We did some sniffing and searching, and we found some residents, but none of them survived."

"Which means we were too late," Ryder sighed.

"Zuma to Ryder! I found Mayor Humdinger's lair! Rocks have fallen in!"

"Thanks Zuma," said Ryder as he put his car in gear and drove towards the beach. "Paw Patrol to the beach! Keep a sharp eye for the lair!"

They all raced to the lair; or what was left of it at least. None of them could believe an explosion like that could destroy a strong hold like Mayor Humdinger's lair. Ryder had a bad feeling; maybe no one survived here either. Until he heard noises, and it sounded like the kittens.

"Stay close pups, we're going in," he said.

They carefully walked around the fallen rocks and boulders to follow the sounds of the kittens' caterwauling, which got louder the deeper they went and found some things along the way.

"That's the Cheetah's race car," said Chase. "And it's completely crushed."

"Ha!" Marshall barked. "I know who's not racing in the Adventure Bay 500 next weekend. Serves that fucking bitch right!"

"Marshall!" Ryder snapped. Marshall cowered at the tone in Ryder's voice. "That very person is buried right in front of you."

Marshall looked down in front of him, and there he saw the Cheetah, just barely moving, and moaning in pain. The kittens were still caterwauling, as if to tell the pups where the other two were.

"I just found Harold!" said Rubble as he moved some rocks with his shovel.

"And I just found Mayor Humdinger!" said Zuma after moving a big boulder.

"And they're just barely hanging on," said Ryder as he felt them all for a pulse. "We need to get them to the prison's medical facility, and fast."

Marshall ran back to grab his truck, transformed it into an ambulance, and carried the three survivors back to Adventure Bay, with Ryder and the other pups following closely behind.


	7. Taking Precautions

**Hi everyone! I know Chase and Marshall are a little OOC, but Marshall is like that for a reason. You'll find out why later. Here's chapter 7. Hope everyone is keeping safe during these hard times. **

Somewhere just outside the borders of the Adventure Bay desert, there stood a small building in the ground that resembled an old run down bomb shelter from way back during the Second World War, only it wasn't. Someone did however, make it their hideout, and that someone was the very same suspect that escaped from the prison; and that hideout is where he kept his victims just to torture them before killing them completely. Inside the hideout, it was dimly lit, and extremely dry, so it was very easy for someone to die from dehydration. However, there was always the sound of what seemed to be water droplets leaking out of a pipe; and in the furthest corner was the only occupant, sitting there with his hands tied behind his back, his eyes closed, and sweat dripping from his forehead.

He wore studded boots, ripped jeans, a black t-shirt with a yellow X outlined with red, and had light orange hair, and he looked to be at least a year older than Ryder; and looks and clothing like that could only belong to one person.

Daring Danny X.

He had been there for a few days, and he felt weak, but he managed to hang on. However, one loud water droplet caused him to jolt himself awake. Every droplet he heard fall to the ground, irritated him to no end, and it really angered him that his hands were tied up, so he couldn't do anything about the noise. But in the end, he knew there was one beacon of hope; which was knowing that Ryder and the pups will find and rescue him. He lost his train of thought when he heard a woman being thrown into that very same room with him, and then whoever threw her in there, left, locking the door behind him.

Danny glared at the guy the entire time, and after the guy left, he looked at the red-haired woman on the floor in front of him. She was struggling to catch her breath after being thrown down to the ground like that, and when she finally turned over, Danny saw her face, and he knew right away who she was.

"You're…Ladybird, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Danny Colleridge. I've been here for a few days now."

"Yeah, well that numskull just tricked me into helping him get out of prison, just to commit crimes. When I saw what he did to Foggy Bottom, I then questioned him about it afterwards, that's when he started beating me; and when I woke up, I was tied up like this, in the back of his truck."

"Wait, back up," said Danny. "What happened to Foggy Bottom?"

"He buried some explosives into the ground, and then…"

Ladybird couldn't finish; she was still haunted by the image of the explosion, and the gruesome aftermath. It made her shiver. Danny knew right away what had happened, without it being said.

"Were there survivors?" he asked.

"I don't think so," Ladybird replied. "Not after an explosion like that. But of someone did survive, it would be a miracle."

Ladybird wasn't wrong. It was indeed a miracle the Humdinger's managed to survive the explosion; then again the lair was a little further away from the explosion site. They did, however, sustain some pretty bad injuries from having rocks fall on them like that, and it was up to Marshall to tend to them, much to his hatred for them; but he had no choice as he was the doctor of the group. And he didn't complain about it, at this point complaining about the Humdinger's was the last thing on his mind. After tending to them, he returned to the office lounge where the others were.

"How are they Marshall?" asked Ryder.

"Well, where do I begin," said Marshall. "Mayor Humdinger has a fractured hip; can't say I'm surprised cons…"

"Are you calling him an old man?" asked Rocky, interrupting Marshall who rolled his eyes, and glared at him. "What?"

"That's fucked up, and you know it," Marshall growled.

"Marshall," said Ryder with a risen eyebrow.

"Right, sorry," said Marshall, getting back on track. "No, I'm not calling him an old man. I think he's in his late 40s or something like that. Anyway; I was going to say it's not surprising considering he was lying on his side when Rubble found him. Harold has a dislocated shoulder and broken collar bone, again not surprising since one of those rocks fell right onto his shoulder. And Cheetah has a cut on her forehead which needed 7 stitches, and she's been coughing a lot, which leads me to believe she inhaled a lot of dust and smoke. So, she's going to have respiratory issues for a while. But other than that, their conditions are stable."

"Good," said Ryder.

"But that still doesn't change the fact that we have two escaped prisoners on the loose," said Chase, looking annoyed.

"No, it doesn't," Ryder agreed, just as someone hit the key card reader outside the door to open it, and three of his Kirkland County colleagues, who were also his friends, came in, all looking worried. "What's up guys?"

"We saw the explosion, and we had to check in," said the light haired guy named Trent, who was almost Ryder's height.

"We're all fine Trent," said Ryder. "But Foggy Bottom is not."

"What do you mean?" asked another guy named Adam.

"The explosion originated in Foggy Bottom," Ryder answered, showing his friends the photo on his phone. "The person responsible buried dynamite in the ground in this pattern, causing extensive damage to the entire town. There's basically nothing left."

"Did you find any survivors?" asked another guy named Henrik, who had a thick Swedish accent.

"Only three," said Marshall. "The mayor, and his two family members, and they're here in the medical facility. They were a fair distance away from the explosion, but they still sustained some bone breaking injuries."

"And, what is this I'm hearing about two escaped prisoners?" asked Trent, just as Ella and Tuck came in.

"My guess is he used something to pick the locks on both his cell, and the other inmate's cell," Ella replied. "He then came right at me, and hit me on the head. That's all I remember before waking up in the medical facility."

"After he hit Ella, both prisoners headed down the hall towards the Rock Island entrance," Tuck added. "They got out from there, and I guess they went to Foggy Bottom to blow it up."

"Who are these prisoners?" asked Henrik.

"A lean-built female in her mid-30s, height about 5'9 with chin length orangey-red hair," Ryder began. "She calls herself Ladybird; on account of she likes to take anything shiny that she happens to spot. The other is a medium-built male, just about to hit his 40s; height is probably an even 6', almost bald."

"Wait a minute," said Trent, taking out his phone and pulling up a photo. "Is this the guy?"

"Yep, that's him," said Ryder.

"Dayne Rickman," Trent continued. "Sheriff Mathews warned us about him, he's been sighted around both Kirkland County and Kelloway. Apparently he once attended the police academy years ago, but he failed every single test that was given, so he didn't become a police officer like he wanted to. The Sheriff says it's a good thing too."

"Why's that?" asked Zuma.

"Because he's from Rushton," Adam replied.

"Rushton?!" Marshall exclaimed, with a smug look on his face. "You mean that shithole town east of here?"

"Language, Marshall," said Ryder. "And yes; although I can't say I'm surprised. He looks like he's from Rushton. If you take a look at that town, it compares very well to the bad side of Toronto, if not worse."

"And the police department there is a fricking joke," said Adam.

"I know," Ryder said again. "We've been caught by them before. They go around arresting people for no reason, like they own the place. Which is why I'm never seeking help from them, but we do need the extra help if this guy is on the loose and we don't know where he is. We need people searching the outer borders for my friend, as well as guarding the town both day and night. And we also need Katie to be escorted to and from work, because I'm not letting her go there alone, not if we have escapees on the loose."

"I'll escort Katie," said Skye. "And I'll also guard the parlor while she's there."

"Me too," said Rocky.

"Good idea," Ryder agreed.

"Who's Katie?" asked Henrik.

"My girlfriend," Ryder answered. "She owns the pet parlor just up the road near the Adventure Bay Bridge."

"Nice going," said Trent getting a smile back from Ryder. "Anyway, I have an idea; the three of us are taking shifts with the others to search the outer borders. The others are already out there for the night shift, and we do the daytime with Shawn and Tanya. And I know you and the pups can patrol the town during the day, but for the nighttime shift, let's see if we can get some of our colleagues from Kelloway; they are the ultimate night owls."

"Good idea Trent, I'll give the chief a call right now," said Ryder as he used the phone on his desk to make the call, which took no more than 5 minutes.

"So, what did she say?" asked Chase.

"She's gonna send ten of her people over," Ryder answered. "They'll be here by tomorrow afternoon, but Trent, Adam, Henrik, for the love of God, keep Deidre away from me!"

"Don't worry, we will," said Adam, and the other two nodded in agreement.

"Do you have some kind of beef with that person?" asked Rocky, looking confused.

"She's had a crush on him since they all started attending the academy," Chase replied. "Many times, she's tried to ask him out, only to be rejected several times, but she never gave up. She even tried to get all over him, only to get pushed off."

"She tried to kiss him once," said Henrik. "But of course, she had no luck because the sheriff caught her."

"That's because he knows about Katie," said Ryder. "He saw her with me the day Chase and I left for the academy. Which reminds me, she can't stay at the pet parlor by herself anymore, especially at night; she has to come back to the Lookout. Chase, you come with me while the rest of you head back."

"What about those three?" asked Trent as he watched Ella, Tuck, and Marshall going through the door to the other part of the office.

"Ella and Tuck are the prison guards," Ryder replied. "And Marshall has to tend to the survivors, since he is our medical pup."

"Fair enough."

Ryder's friends made their way to the nearby hotel for the night; Rocky, Rubble, Skye and Zuma made their way to the Lookout, while Ryder took Chase in his car and drove to Katie's. With all that was happening, Ryder was worried; so it was understandable he would want Katie to come back to the Lookout with him. The thought of it made him smile, and very noticeably too. So much so, that Chase gave him a strange look. And even Ryder noticed that whenever he quickly glanced over at him.

"What?" he asked.

"I know that look Ryder," Chase smirked. "You're happy about asking Katie to stay with us. Although considering the amount of time the two of you have been friends, and now being in a romantic relationship, I'm sure she's gonna be super thrilled when you ask her to share your bed with you."

"Will you please stop that? Yes, Katie and I have been friends all our lives. Yes, I've loved her since we were young. Yes, I'm happy she and I are finally starting up a romantic relationship. But the reason I'm asking her to stay with us is to protect her; because Lord knows where this guy is lurking, and I will be really upset if anything happens to her. As for the sharing the bed part, where else would she sleep? The bean bag chairs?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Chase after giving it some thought. "I'm also thinking she wouldn't want to be sleeping on a bean bag chair that smells like dog."

"I have a feeling she wouldn't be concerned about the smell so much as the discomfort of the bean bag chairs," said Ryder, thinking about the one time he sat on one of the older bean bag chairs for too long, and had a sore back afterwards. "I'm sure she'll be okay sharing my bed, I know I am. But keep in mind; our romance is just blooming, so sex is the absolute last thing on my mind right now."

"So, you're gonna save that for a special time?" asked Chase.

"Pretty much," Ryder answered as he pulled up in front of the pet parlor. "But then again, I'm not thinking about that at the moment. Right now, I'm more concerned about her safety. I'll be right back."

Ryder got out of the car, leaving Chase to keep an eye out and stay alert. Luckily, Katie was behind the counter, ready to open the door if she had to. Otherwise, she locked it to be safe, per Ryder's orders. Ryder quietly knocked on the door, making sure it was just loud enough for Katie to hear so she could open it. She locked it again when Ryder came in.

"Ryder," she said as she ran into his arms. "I was so worried."

"We're all fine, Katie," said Ryder after he kissed her. "Except for the fact Foggy Bottom has been destroyed. But we'll talk about that later, right now we don't have a lot of time; I'm gonna need you to pack your stuff and grab Cali, and come back to the Lookout with me. You'll be safe there."

"Is something going on?" asked Katie as she and Ryder started packing.

"Both of our prisoners have escaped," Ryder answered. "And one of them happens to be very dangerous; and if we don't know where he is, then it's not safe for you to be here by yourself."

"Kinda seems like I'm pretty much moving in with you," Katie smirked.

"Yeah, you can call it that," Ryder laughed, just as he noticed Katie giving him a strange look. "What?"

"I really don't get it,' said Katie with a small pout. "I'm wearing deck sandals, and yet you're still way taller than I am."

"Yeah, joys of having had three growth spurts in the last 9 years."

That may sound impossible to some, but it was true. Ryder's first growth spurt happened when he was 11 years old, and he grew three and half inches. The second one was not long after his 14th birthday, and he grew another even 3 inches. He would normally grow at least half an inch to an inch every year in between those growth spurts; however his third growth spurt was the biggest one. He was 5'8 when he left for the police academy 2 years prior; by that point in time his growth had stalled for a while, and when he came back 10 months later, everyone was shocked to see he had grown to a whopping 6'5; he was taller than everyone in town, even Cap'n Turbot.

"Really? Three?" asked Katie, completely surprised. "I thought you just kept growing until you stopped."

"Well, in a way did," Ryder laughed, just as he and Katie finished packing. "But if you remember, up until a little while after my 11th birthday, you and I were the same height for the longest time. We pretty much grew together; but then you stopped growing at 15, and I had a growth stall just before I left for the academy, and then all of a sudden I just shot right up."

"Yeah, and it really threw me off," Katie pouted as she put Cali in her pet carrier, and then shut off all the lights.

"Sorry," said Ryder as he kissed Katie's forehead, and then turned towards the door. "How does it look out there Chase?"

"The area is clear," Chase replied. "But you should get Katie out of there quickly just to be on the safe side."

"Copy that, we'll be right out," said Ryder as he grabbed Katie's bags, and they both went outside to the car, and Katie locked the door before putting Cali on the floor of the passenger seat, just as Chase hopped onto the middle console and let out a big sneeze as he sat down.

"Aachoo!"

"Just a minute, Chase," said Katie as she reached into her purse, and grabbed small container, and rubbed some of the contents on Chase's nose. "This special serum will help keep your allergies at bay, especially when you need your nose to do your job."

"Thanks, Katie," said Chase. "It's already starting to work."

"Be sure to use it every day, now that Cali is gonna be around quite a bit," said Ryder as he got into the driver's seat, and they all went back to the Lookout. Ryder led Katie up to the second level to where his room was. "Here we are."

"I remember you having a smaller bed," said Katie, looking around as Ryder started clearing some space in the closet.

"Yeah," he answered. "But over the years, it got old, and started to fall apart. And of course I grew, so it was too small for me, so now it's in the back of Rocky's truck, and I got this new one just after I came back from Toronto."

"So, if I'm gonna be in here, then where are you gonna sleep?" asked Katie completely confused, which then turned into shock when she felt arms around her, making her smile.

"Right next to you," said Ryder as he held Katie close and kissed her. "I'll let you get unpacked, and I'm gonna go make dinner."

Katie smiled as she watched him go back down to the lobby where the other pups were, except for Marshall, of course. She was just so amazed with how caring Ryder was; he was always caring towards everyone, whether it was the town's people, or his pups, or Katie herself. In fact, with all he had done for Katie over the years, and was still doing for her, especially now with giving her a safe place to stay during a time like this when a dangerous convict was out there somewhere, she knew he would protect her no matter what. It seemed obvious to a lot of people that Ryder was very protective when it came to Katie, and he would do many things for her. Even as Katie came down to the kitchen, and watched Ryder making a healthy and nutritious dinner, there was no doubt in her mind, he was the perfect boyfriend.

"Mmm, smells delicious," said Katie as she walked in.

"Minus the meat," said Rubble as he walked passed her heading towards his dog bowl for his own dinner. "But yes, it does smell delicious, in fact it tastes as good as it smells."

"You would know, Rubble," said Ryder as he cooked, remembering Rubble always liked to taste whatever he made.

"I believe you," Katie laughed. "But Rubble, don't you remember what happened 7 years ago?"

_Flashback _

_Ryder jolted awake from the sound of his pup pad going off, and he saw the call was from a very panicky Mr. Porter. He was having a health inspector come to the café to do an inspection after having a couple customers fall sick after eating a burger from there the previous night, and he was worried that if he failed the health inspection, he would have to close down. Ryder told him not to worry, as he and the pups would be there to help find what caused the problem before the health inspector arrived. Ryder had a way of doing a pre-inspection before the health inspector arrived, so that they can compare notes. Ryder was relieved when he saw his own notes. _

"_Everything checks out, Mr. Porter," he said, showing him his notes. _

"_Then I really don't understand," said Mr. Porter, just as the health inspector arrived. _

"_You don't understand what?" he asked. _

"_Mr. Johnson, I did a pre-inspection before you got here," said Ryder, giving him his notes. "Here are my notes if you would like to compare." _

_Mr. Johnson did just that, and the comparison was spot on. _

"_Mine check out too," he said. _

"_So, what could it be?" asked Mr. Porter. _

"_Hmm," Ryder thought. "You said the customers were feeling sick after eating a burger, right?" _

"_That's what they told me," Mr. Porter replied, just as Mr. Johnson did a quick test of the ground meat, and was shocked with the result. _

"_The meat supply is tainted with salmonella," he said. "That explains it all. You'll have to throw out all the meat, unfortunately." _

"_But, what will I do for burgers?" asked Mr. Porter. _

"_Well," said Ryder, giving it some thought. "You could go plant-based." _

"_Plant-based?" Mr. Porter asked again. _

"_Yeah," said Ryder. "Much of the world's population is going plant-based. So, why not give it a try?" _

_Mr. Porter gave it some thought, but he decided to give it a try. Ryder helped him with the research, they found some good recipes to try, and all of the town's residents loved the food. Every day, Mr. Porter would find more recipes to try, and he updated the menu. Adventure Bay has been plant-based ever since. _

_End of Flashback_

"I almost forgot about that," said Rubble, as he ate.

"Rubble, what have I told you about talking with food in your mouth?" asked Marshall as he walked in and went to his bowl.

"Don't do it," Rubble answered after swallowing.

"Spot on," said Marshall as he started eating his dinner, and then went back towards the door, giving a sleeping Everest a kiss on his way out. "Sorry to eat and run, but I got patients to take care of."

"No worries Marshall," said Ryder as he served dinner for Katie and himself.

"So, you mentioned before that Foggy Bottom was destroyed," Katie began as she and Ryder sat down. "What exactly happened?"

"Someone buried dynamite in the ground, and basically blew it up," Ryder answered. "And the only 3 three survivors were the Humdinger's."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope. Mind you, their lair was further away, so they only sustained some injuries. That's why Marshall is staying at the medical facility tonight; he's the medic pup, so he has to make sure their conditions are stable."

Katie nodded as if to say 'fair enough,' and then she and Ryder enjoyed their dinner, unaware Everest woke up and overheard their conversation; she was feeling sad that Marshall wouldn't be coming home tonight. Ever since they got together, she always missed him they were apart, but she knew they would still be able to communicate through their pup tags. So she went to another room, and did just that.

"Hey you," said Marshall with a smile.

"Hi," said Everest. "I couldn't help but overhear Ryder and Katie talking. They said you had to stay at the medical facility for the night, is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Marshall replied. "Except for the fact the Humdinger's sustained some pretty bad injuries after that big explosion, so I gotta stay here and make sure they're in stable condition, even though I don't like them. But it's my job."

"I understand," said Everest. "Just as long as they don't give you a hard time, like last time."

"I don't think that'll be a problem, hun. After all, they are heavily sedated at the moment; so if they try to give me a hard time, I'll just give them another sedative."

"Of course," Everest laughed as she and Marshall continued to smile at each other. "I love you."

"I love you too. Have a good night," Marshall said before the two ended the call, and he turned around and looked at his three patients. He wondered why he didn't think of just sedating them before, and then they wouldn't have given him or the others a hard time in the first place. He gave a small quiet laugh at the thought; as much as he wanted to do that, it was against standard protocol. So, he just kept an eye on all the monitors, and watched as the cats took turns sleeping with the patients. Marshall thought it was funny watching a couple of the cats jump from bed to bed every hour so that each cat would get a turn with each patient, they were that worried.

Later that evening, Ryder had just gotten prepared for bed, and smiled when he noticed Katie was already there settling down for the night. He joined her not long after, and she just smiled at him.

"Well, Rubble was right," she said.

"About what?" Ryder asked.

"Dinner was delicious," Katie replied. "Who knew you could cook so well?"

"Well, I did have some help from Mr. Porter when he was doing the transition at the café. And of course, I've pretty much been living on my own for the last 12 years."

"That's true. I wish my cooking was as good as yours."

"Are you kidding? You're a great cook."

"Thanks, but I'm actually more of a baker than a cook. It was Grandma that did most of the cooking before she moved back to Kelloway. But she did give me a huge binder full of recipes from her old cook book."

"I remember that. And I remember coming over every night for dinner."

"I miss those days, but tonight reminded me of it, except you cooked this time. Do you think you can teach me how to make those recipes?"

"Of course. Anything for you."

Katie smiled just as Ryder kissed her, and then he held her close as they both drifted off to sleep, wondering what tomorrow will bring.


	8. The Ultimate Truth

**Hey everyone! Don't know how long this chapter will be, but it's gonna cover A LOT. One thing I will mention, this is the chapter where you'll find out the ultimate truth about Marshall; and you'll get the extended story of how Marshall and Everest got together. Not gonna say much about it, but a part of it or two is quite sad. And something surprising will happen with the Humdinger's, along with Mayor Humdinger's first name and the Cheetah's real name being revealed. **

**Enjoy and stay safe. **

Ryder was up long before Katie was; he was always an early riser just so that he could go for his morning run, eat breakfast and then get ready for the day. He was already back and making breakfast by the time Katie woke up and noticed she was alone. So she decided to get up and come down to the kitchen where she found Ryder, still in his workout gear, making a healthy breakfast of whole grain toast with mashed avocado on it. Smiling as she came in, she nearly collided with Marshall, who was once again in for his own breakfast, and then was gonna go right back out afterwards.

"Excuse me, Katie," he said, smiling at all the memories of his clumsy days.

"Sorry Marshall," Katie laughed, petting Marshall on his head. "I know you gotta eat and run again."

"You got it," Marshall said again as he finished eating and then went to Everest. "Got any plans for today?"

"Hmm," said Everest giving it some thought. "I think I'll keep Katie company at the pet parlor, and help her if she needs it."

"Awww, thanks Everest," Katie said as she sat down. "I would love the company. And the extra help, seeing as Cali normally sleeps while I work."

"Hmph!" Cali meowed, giving Katie the cold shoulder which made everyone laugh.

"But here's to hoping you won't have to work next Wednesday," Everest said to Marshall as she nuzzled him.

"What's next Wednesday?" Katie asked.

"Our anniversary," Marshall answered. "And I hope so too. Unlike last year, we were delayed."

"Delayed?" Katie asked again. "By what?"

"Our very first arrest," said Ryder with a smile, thinking back to that day.

_Flashback_

_It had been almost 2 months since Ryder returned from Toronto, and he had been working hard to train the other pups to become police pups too. He even gave Marshall a little bit of extra training on the side so he could be a senior officer, alongside Chase who was already a senior officer, since they were the oldest of all the pups. The construction of the new underground prison and office had just been completed, the inside was already furnished, and Ryder had just finished decorating the wall behind his desk with photos, awards and certifications from over the last 18 years of his life. He felt proud of himself for going through the extra training with the sheriff, so he could become the chief officer of the Adventure Bay Police Department; just like his father wanted to before him. He smiled as he looked over to the Wall of Honour, at a photo of his father in his police uniform back in the day, and he thought about it for a moment; and he had a deep feeling that his father would be very proud of him today for doing the very thing he never got the chance to do. _

_He lost his train of thought when the phone on his desk started ringing, and noticed on the caller ID, that it was Mayor Goodway. _

"_Adventure Bay Police Department. Ryder speaking." _

_The pups giggled quietly; they knew all too well he had been longing to say that ever since he completed his training. But they stopped after Ryder hung up the phone, and stepped up in front of the pups, who were now sitting in line of attention looking up at Ryder who had what looked like a smirk on his face. _

"_We got our first case pups," he said, still smirking. "An arrest I have been dying to do. Let's get to the museum." _

_He got onto his brand new Harley Davidson CVO, a gift from the sheriff, while the pups rode in Chase's Ultimate Police Cruiser, and they charged all the way to the Adventure Bay Museum, where Mayor Goodway caught Mayor Humdinger and his cats red-handed, and the thing they were trying to steal was something extremely valuable and very important to the town; something Mayor Humdinger wanted so badly. It was a small gold statue of a pup and cat, which happened to be a gift from the princess of Barkingburg; the pup statue he planned to destroy and just keep the cat. _

"_Ha!" Mayor Humdinger laughed. "What's Ryder gonna do? He's not even here!" _

"_On the contrary, Mayor Humdinger," Mayor Goodway argued. "Ryder has been back for weeks now, and believe me when I say, he's is not the same as what you remember! He's grown up, and he will not tolerate your shenanigans anymore! Trust me!" _

"_Trust you? Ha!" Mayor Humdinger argued back. "I will trust you when I see the proof!" _

"_Oh, you'll see the proof any minute now." _

_The doors opened just as Mayor Goodway said that, and in walked Ryder and the pups, standing at the ready. _

"_Ha! See? You called the Paw Patrol!" Mayor Humdinger laughed again, causing Mayor Goodway to glare at him even more. He then looked at Ryder and the pups, who were all glaring at him too. "Well, I guess you…decided to have…a ch-change in uniform…and… Oh." _

_He then realised what was going on as the pups shook their heads, and Ryder took a step forward and spoke up. _

"_Mayor Archibald Humdinger. You have the right to remain silent." _

_With a snap of his fingers, the pups sprang into action. A few of them trapped the cats in small cages from their new police packs, and another one took the statue back and proceeded to checking the museum for anything else that may have been taken; while the two senior officer pups cornered Mayor Humdinger, and growled at him as Ryder approached him with handcuffs at the ready. Mayor Humdinger, who once looked down on Ryder, now found himself looking up at him as he had the handcuffs put on his wrists behind his back. _

"_Proof enough for you Mayor Humdinger?" asked Mayor Goodway with a smirk on her face. "I told you Ryder will no longer tolerate your shenanigans." _

"_But you didn't tell me he was a police officer!" Mayor Humdinger whined. _

"_Hey!" Marshall barked. "Ryder said to remain silent; so how about you shut up, and do what he says!" _

"_Thank you Marshall, I can take it from here," said Ryder, who then looked back at Mayor Humdinger, pinning him with a glare. "I'm going to be honest with you, this arrest should've happened a long time ago, but by God, I'm so glad to be the one to do it. Everything you've done in the past, such as trespassing onto my property, all the things you've stolen, all the events you've tried to mess up which included cheating in the sporting events, and trying to take credit for things you weren't even involved with; and not to mention all the damage you and your little brat of a nephew have done to this town. Some mayor you are, the two of you should be in prison already. If you wanted something your town didn't have that our town did, then get it the proper way, and don't steal it from someone else. Because if you do steal it, then something like this will happen." _

"_Especially when you get your cats involved in those schemes!" Chase said showing his teeth. _

"_Ah! I knew this would happen one day!" said Mayor Goodway with excitement. "And you deserve it!" _

"_No kidding he deserves it!" Rocky agreed as he took back the statue, and continued searching around. _

"_Yeah," Rubble added. "Pretty much all I hear is: 'I want this! I want that! No fair! This should be mine! I should be this!' What a big baby!" _

"_Ryder's right," Skye chimed in. "Some mayor you are!" _

"_Yeah, not cool dude!" said Zuma, who then growled at one of the cats who hissed at him. _

"_Agreed!" Marshall growled. "Especially when all you do is come up with extremely stupid schemes just to get attention, only to have them fail; and what mayor on earth goes gallivanting with a clowder? You! That's who!" _

"_What's a clowder?" asked Rubble. _

"_It's a group of cats," Marshall replied before pointing at the caged cats. "Exhibit A." _

"_Well, she walks around with a chicken in her purse!" Mayor Humdinger argued, making everyone roll their eyes as if to say, 'that's not the point.' _

"_At least I'm a lot more responsible than you are!" Mayor Goodway argued back. _

"_She makes a very good point," Ryder agreed. "They all do. So, what's it going to be? Surrender, or suffer the consequences?" _

"_Alright, alright! I surrender!" Mayor Humdinger whined. "I'll do anything, but please don't hurt me or my kitties! Please!" _

"_Wow, I've never seen Mayor Humdinger beg to Ryder like that," Chase whispered to Marshall. _

"_And I have a feeling it won't be the last time," Marshall whispered back as Rocky came to Ryder. _

"_The statue from the princess is back where it belongs, and I haven't found anything else out of place," he said. Ryder nodded, and then turned to Mayor Humdinger. _

"_Since you said please, lift the cages," he said as the pups released the cats, who ran to their owner who had the handcuffs removed. "I'm willing to let this incident slide THIS time, as long as you promise to keep your cats and yourself under control. And that means no more scheming, no more stealing from us, and no more damaging this town; and definitely no more cheating in sporting events or other events and contests we hold." _

_With that, Ryder and the pups started to walk away, leaving Mayor Humdinger stunned, and scared that he would break his word. _

"_But, what if I have a slip up?" he asked looking cowardly, making the others stop in their tracks. _

"_Huh? What's that?" asked Marshall sarcastically. "I'm sorry; I couldn't hear you over the sound of sheer stupidity coming out of that mouth of yours." _

"_What a basket case," said Rocky with a small laugh. _

"_Nope!" said Marshall shaking his head. "Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!" _

"_What do you mean 'nope'?" asked Rocky confused. _

"_A basket case is someone or something being regarded as useless or unable to cope," Marshall answered. "Mayor Humdinger is none of those things; he's more along the lines of crazy and/or foolish. So the proper term for him would be nutcase." _

"_Says the pup who read the dictionary several times," Rocky pointed out. _

"_Try more than several times," said Marshall, leaving the other pups confused. _

"_But it's true!" said Mayor Humdinger, trying to reason with Ryder and the pups. "What if I have a slip up and I can't stop myself? Or the kitties?" _

"_Excuses, excuses," Marshall whispered, looking up at Ryder as if to tell him it was time for an ultimatum. Ryder knew that look, and he gave Marshall a small nod as if to agree with him. Ryder turned around and walked back over to Mayor Humdinger, and was practically right in his face. _

"_I want you to listen very carefully, because I'm only gonna say this once," he began, glaring at the now frightened mayor. "This was your first official offense, so I'm letting you off with a warning. Second offense, you're banned from this town until further notice. Third offense, you're banned for good, and you get sent to prison for the remainder of your miserable life. The same goes for your nephew and cousin. Do I make myself clear?" _

"_Y-yes," Mayor Humdinger answered in a shaky voice, nearly in tears. _

"_Good," said Ryder with a slight growl in his voice. "We're watching you." _

_With that, Ryder and the pups left the museum with big smiles on their faces, knowing Mayor Humdinger was now too scared to even cause trouble. _

_End of Flashback_

"Has it been a year already?" asked Katie.

"Yep," said Ryder as he gave Katie her breakfast and started eating as well.

"But we didn't get to do the things we wanted to do for our annniversary," said Marshall with a sad look on his face.

"Aww, it's okay," said Everest, hugging Marshall. "We were together, and that's all that mattered."

Just hearing that made Marshall smile; he was so lucky to have a pup like Everest in his life. After breakfast, Ryder went back upstairs to have a shower and get ready for the day, while Katie finished up her breakfast. She then went upstairs to get herself ready, not knowing she was in for a surprise.

"Okay," she said as she walked into the room. "Time to get myself ready fo… Ooh!"

Ryder turned around when he heard that small squeal coming from Katie, who was blushing at the sight of him with no shirt on.

"What?" he asked. He then saw Katie shyly point at him, and he remembered he was shirtless. "Oh, that!"

"H-how d-did you g-get so ripped?" Katie asked in a shaky voice.

"I work out," Ryder answered, noticing Katie was still blushing really hard. That's when it occurred to him. "You've never seen me shirtless, have you?"

Katie shook her head while she smiled as Ryder approached her, and pulled her into his arms. Immediately she could hear his heart beating and the feel of his strong arms around her, making her feel safe.

"Well, I'm gonna warn you right now," Ryder began as he lifted Katie's chin and kissed her. "This definitely won't be the last time you see me shirtless."

Hearing that made Katie smile even more as she and Ryder continued to hold each other, until he had to put his shirt on and get going, and Katie had to get herself ready and open up the pet parlor. After she got ready, she met up with Skye, Rocky and Everest outside and set out for town. As they walked, Katie was constantly thinking about this morning, and she felt like she was being watching by a certain flying pup next to her.

"You already missing Ryder?" asked Skye.

"How could you tell?" Katie asked back.

"I could tell by the look on your face," Skye answered. "Ryder is definitely on your mind."

"Girls always know," said Rocky as he shook his head.

"You got that right," said Everest.

"And to answer your question Skye," Katie began, "yes, I do miss him when he leaves for work. Even before he and I officially got together, I would always miss him. But there's something else."

"What is it?" asked Skye as they all stopped in front of Katie.

"Well," said Katie, starting to blush again. "I went upstairs to get ready for the day, and when I went into the room, I saw Ryder with no shirt on."

"Are you serious?!" asked Everest in shock. "I've never seen him shirtless."

"We have," said Rocky.

"All the time," Skye added.

"Really?" Everest asked again as they started walking again.

"Yep, and he looks pretty yummy, that's for sure," Skye said, winking at Katie.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Chase would not be pleased if he heard you say that Skye," said Rocky.

"Oh, don't worry," Skye replied. "Chase has already seen my reaction, and he knows he's the only one for me."

"And you know what Everest," said Katie, "I myself have never seen Ryder shirtless until today. And I agree with you Skye, and you should've seen my reaction; I was absolutely speechless, blushing, smiling non-stop. Oh, and hello biceps on him, like wow!"

"We were pretty shocked ourselves," Rocky added as they reached the pet parlor. "When Ryder left for Toronto, he didn't have that much muscle on him; almost like he was just skinny, but fit at the same time. But then he came back from Toronto, and all of a sudden he looks like that. It was unbelievable."

"He told us it was mandatory to work out while at the academy," said Skye as they went inside. "He was already working out, but he did a lot more of it when he was doing his police training; mostly because he had no Paw Patrol missions to interrupt him, and he had some buddies to workout with. Plus Chase was lying on his back while he was doing push ups, which we found funny, because he would fall off the first few times."

"Who's idea was it to have Chase lying on Ryder's back while doing push ups?" asked Everest.

"It was the sheriff's idea," Rocky answered. "Apparently it's a pretty good way to build up the core strength, and whoever had a pup with them did that, while the others used weights."

"That must've been fun," Katie laughed.

"You should ask Ryder and Chase about it later," said Skye. "Well, I'll be on the roof."

"And I'll be just outside the door here," said Rocky as he and Skye went back outside.

"Thanks again you two," said Katie. "I think I will have to talk to Ryder about that push up thing he and Chase had to do."

"Yeah," Everest agreed. "So, does Ryder have a six pack?"

"Um…" Katie stuttered, blushing yet again. "More like he has an eight pack."

"Wow!" said Everest. "It reminds me of when I heard Marshall's low voice for the first time. My whole body shook, I couldn't stop smiling myself."

"Aww."

While Katie and Everest were busy chatting and getting to work, and Rocky and Skye guarding the pet parlor, Ryder and the rest of the pups were at the office about to hold a meeting with his five Kirkland County colleagues, who were on their way from their hotel. So while waiting, Marshall was checking on the Humdinger's and making sure their conditions were still stable, while Ryder was investigating the previously occupied cells to see what he could do to improve their strength, and the other ones as well, so that nobody would be able to escape again. Luckily, both Ella and Tuck had some skills with electronics; so they would be able to help make the improvements to every single one of the cells. They told Ryder about their idea of having a keypad attached to the wall far enough away from the bars so that nobody would be able to crack the code that kept the cells locked; Ryder thought it was a genius idea, and started jotting down the ideas and the steps to make it happen, on his phone. He was so focused on jotting down the ideas, that he didn't even notice one of his colleagues had entered the area.

"You look focused," he said, making Ryder jump.

"Jesus, Shawn!" Ryder exclaimed, catching his breath. "You do that every time!"

"It's my specialty," Shawn laughed, as another colleague came in.

"You might be just as bad as Deidre," she said.

"No Tanya," said Ryder. "Deidre is far worse. Ugh, can't stand her. As long as she's not one of the ten coming from Kelloway, I'll be fine."

"That makes two of us," said Shawn.

"Make that three," Tanya agreed as they went back to the office to meet up with the others. Ryder gathered all the things he needed for the meeting, including photos from his phone that were printed off.

"Okay," said Trent as he and the others gathered around Ryder's desk. "Now that we're all here, where do we start?"

"Actually, we're not all here," said Chase. "Shouldn't we wait for the ten from Kelloway?"

"Not necessarily," said Ryder. "I already sent the information and the evidence we've got so far, to Chief Collins this morning; so she's going to have a quick briefing with them before they get here. I already had a briefing with the other five before they set out to search, so they know what to look for."

He grabbed a file folder from his desk, and placed it on the coffee table in front of everyone.

"This contains pictures and information about the evidence we collected yesterday after the explosion, as well as information about our missing victim and suspects," Ryder continued as he pulled out a picture of Danny. "This is Danny Colleridge, aged 20, he's one of our long-time friends, born and raised here in Adventure Bay; he left for work on Tuesday morning, and he's been missing ever since. We already searched all the areas where he likes to hang out, and we came up empty, so chances are he's somewhere out of town. That's another reason I agreed to the idea of having some of our colleagues from Kelloway come to help us, because one of them has a police dog that has a very good sense of smell, and Chase knows her very well."

"How so?" asked Henrik.

"She's my cousin," Chase answered. "And if there's any police pup that can sniff out a missing person after a trail has been lost, Casey is the one."

"And what's the other reason?" asked Tanya.

"That we need the extra help," said Ryder, as he pulled out another photo. "Especially after the small neighbouring town of Foggy Bottom was nuked yesterday afternoon, which left only three survivors, and they're here in the medical facility. And we have two possible suspects who could be behind it all; Dayne Rickman is one of them, and I know you already know a thing or two about him. And the other is a woman, whose real name is unknown, but she goes by the name Ladybird. She's already well-known for her crimes here in town, which is basically stealing anything shiny she comes across."

Pulling out another photo, Shawn and Tanya were shocked to see what it was.

"We also found this symbol in the middle of the town while we were investigating the aftermath of the explosion," Ryder continued. "Whoever did it planted dynamite in the ground in that pattern; if any of you have been to the states, you'll probably recognise the pyramid in the eye part of that pattern."

"It signifies the Illuminati," said Shawn. "I've done a little research on that in school some years ago. And by the looks of that X through the symbol, this person was a hater of the Illuminati, like his or her ancestors. Since it was opposed to religious influences over life and abused power, it's no surprise at all. Putting something like that on American money is one thing, but to put it all over the place like graffiti, you know that could be a crime in itself."

"Right," said Ryder. "At first Rocky and I thought the person responsible was a Satan worshiper; but now after hearing what you just said, I don't think that's the case."

"Yeah, Rocky looked it up last night and even he was having second thoughts," said Zuma. "But why would someone use that symbol at all, especially putting dynamite in that pattern?"

"No one knows," Adam replied. "But Sheriff Mathews told us last night that Dayne Rickman had that very same symbol tattooed on his arm."

"That's a clue," said Ryder. "Good thing he's on the suspects list."

"Do you think this is enough to go on?" asked Tanya.

"It should be," Ryder answered. "But if we find more clues along the way, we'll add it to the file. So, let's get going."

Everyone stood up and headed for the door, except for Marshall, who went the opposite way.

"You're not coming?" asked Shawn.

"Thanks for the offer, but I have patients to take care of," Marshall replied, before turning away, and had a smug look come to his face. "Even though I hate them."

Shawn and Tanya exchanged looks of confusion upon hearing that, and then turned to Ryder with now questioning looks.

"The three survivors of the explosion are the town's mayor Archibald Humdinger, his nephew Harold, and his cousin Cheetah," he said. "Due to a lot of things they've done to this town in the past, Marshall hates them with a passion."

"What kind of things?" asked Trent.

"Well, where do I begin?" Ryder asked rhetorically, giving it some thought. "Mayor Humdinger did a lot of cheating in sporting events and contests we held, he stole a few things from us, but we caught him before he could get much further with it; he and Harold trespassed onto my property, Harold nearly destroyed the entire town several times, and Cheetah lived up to her name, and cheated which caused the Whoosh to get injured during the Adventure Bay 500 9 years ago, and tried to make a fool of Marshall a couple days later during the 'Round the World Road Rally Championship. But it's what happened 5 years ago that caused Marshall's hatred for the Humdinger's to grow; the Whoosh won the 'Round the World Road Rally Championship, and Cheetah took her anger out on Marshall's girlfriend. That was of course before they got together."

Marshall cringed when he heard that last part as he walked through the door to the back area; he really hated that memory, but he knew it was all in the past. He and Everest were together now and going strong, and he didn't want to think about the hard times they went through before. Those memories were painful for both of them, so they tried not to think about them and just focus on the things that made them happy; which he did while making sure his patients were on the mend.

Out in the desert, Danny and Ladybird were sitting in the hideout where they were being held hostage, enduring the sound of the water droplets falling on the ground. They were both sweating from the humidity, feeling dehydrated from the heat and trying to figure out what to do. Ladybird was especially thinking hard and looking around for an escape route, but it was too dark to see anything.

"You said you have friends who are cops?" she asked, remembering what Danny told her the day before.

"Yeah," said Danny. "The chief's name is Ryder, he and I have been friends for as long as I can remember."

"Are you saying the leader of the Paw Patrol is the CHIEF of police?" Ladybird asked again. Danny nodded. "And of course those pups of his are police pups as well. No surprise there."

"Do you have some kind of beef with them?" asked Danny.

"They arrested me the other day," Ladybird answered. "I was in prison until yesterday, when that asshole picked the locks and helped me escape, without knowing what I was in for; until he dumped me here. Maybe it is a good thing they arrested me."

"Why did you steal shiny things?" Danny asked again.

"I was originally looking for something shiny that was precious to my family," Ladybird said. "An heirloom, to be exact. It led to me stealing other things that were shiny, and after that it just stuck with me. Although, now that I've seen what crimes can lead to and being a victim of crime afterwards, I think my days of stealing shiny things are over. If I want something shiny, I'll either buy it, or I'll find a way to make it so."

"That is a wise thing to do," said Danny. "But you have to admit it's also a brave thing to do; giving up doing something you've been doing for so long, even if it was bad. It's just like me when I broke my back 6 years ago, and I had to give up doing all of my stunts. I was upset that I had to give it all up, but it was the right thing to do."

"How exactly did you break your back?"

Danny remembered that day all too well; so he didn't hesitate to find the details as he answered.

"I was 14 when it happened," he said. "I was trying to see how strong a trampoline would be if I landed on it by riding my bike off of the roof of the Lookout, and don't even ask how I got up there; anyway, it turns out it's not as strong as Chase's net. Both my bike and the trampoline broke when I landed, on my back of course. So, not only was my back broken, but I was also paralyzed. I was held up in the hospital for almost a whole year; a good portion of that year was spent going through 4 surgeries just to fix all the broken bones on my spine, and the last few months of that year were spent going through physical therapy. That's how I met my girlfriend Anne; her mom was the therapist, and she was her assistant. We've been together ever since, and I'm hoping we get out here soon because our 6 year anniversary is coming up, and I'm thinking of proposing."

"Aw that's nice," said Ladybird as she started thinking. "If I get out of here, I'm gonna make amends for what I did and continue on my search for that heirloom, properly."

While they were busy thinking, all the police units in Adventure Bay were splitting shifts looking for them, and protecting the town. It was almost late in the afternoon when the Kelloway troops arrived, and they were ready for action, without Ryder even knowing they were there. Katie closed up early since she only had a couple of emergency appointments, and was looking forward to being with Ryder for the rest of the day. It was never hard to find him as nowadays he was normally in one place, and Katie can just go straight to him. Which is exactly what she did, and she saw him sitting with the pups at the picnic table near the entrance to the office.

"I knew you'd find me," Ryder laughed as he took Katie in his arms.

"Well, you're always in the same place now," said Katie. "I no longer have to wonder if you're home or not."

"Well, that's usually what happens when Paw Patrol missions become official police work," said Ryder as he kissed Katie, not knowing one if his colleagues was right behind him.

"So you WEREN'T lying when you told Deidre you have a girlfriend," he said, scaring Ryder.

"Now YOU, James, are just as bad as Shawn!"

"He does that too?" asked James.

"He did it to me this morning before we had our briefing; I think he got it from you."

"Ha! That's funny!"

"And for the record," Ryder continued as he smirked at his black friend. "Katie and I weren't together just yet; I just wanted to get Deidre away from me."

"Yeah, fair enough," said James. "She never listened anyway."

"Yeah, she's also a ditz," said the German shepherd next to him.

"You got that right," Chase agreed as he walked up to the pup and hugged her. "Hi Casey."

"Hey Chase."

"So THIS is your cousin," said Skye.

"Yep," Chase replied before turning back to his cousin. "Casey, this is my girlfriend, Skye."

"I remember you telling me," said Casey in excitement. "So happy to finally meet you!"

"Me too!" said Skye. "How did you two discover you were cousins?"

"Apparently our dads were brothers," Casey replied. "They both attended the academy before we were born, so the sheriff has records of them. He had to check them as soon as he saw us both; and when he told us we were cousins, we were so ecstatic to learn we each still have a relative, a.k.a. each other."

"That's awesome!" said Skye.

"Oh, and don't worry Ryder," James chimed in. "Deidre's not coming.

"Good," said Ryder as he sighed with relief. "I really can't stand her."

"I remember you telling me about her," said Katie.

"Yeah, and she's not coming because she's not allowed," Casey added, just as Marshall came outside for some air.

"Why's that?" Chase asked.

"The sheriff told Chief Collins about her behaviour towards Ryder at the academy," James answered. "She was not happy to hear about it; so not only is Deidre not allowed to come here, she's not allowed to leave the town in general, because she's afraid Deidre will break the rules."

"Yeah, THAT will get her ass fired," said Marshall as he sat next to Everest. "Ryder gave us updates about her pretty much every single day while he was gone, talking about the things she was doing that pissed him off. What a shrew."

"What's that?" asked Everest looking confused.

"It's the British interpretation of the word 'bitch,'" Marshall replied. "That particular term is mostly used towards female humans."

"Exactly how do you know that?" James asked.

"He's read the dictionary, a lot," said Everest as she nuzzled against Marshall, which made him smile. After a little while, he had to go back inside, while the others went about what they were doing. Ryder once again had to explain what had happened the day before, and who the survivors were, and Marshall was glad to not be there this time. He thought about it when he checked on the Humdinger's, and all the years they terrorised the town, and made fools of him, Ryder, and the other pups. He sat on a stool checking the monitor beside Cheetah's bed, when he heard her wake up.

"W-where…a-am I?" she groaned.

"You're in the underground prison's medical facility," Marshall replied with a look as straight as can be, trying to hide his hatred. "You three are the only survivors, and Foggy Bottom is completely gone."

Upon hearing that, Cheetah's heart sank. For the first time in her life, she felt lost, now that she and her family had nowhere to go; basically they were homeless. And yet, she felt grateful for being saved.

"Well, thank you," she said. Marshall gave an acknowledging nod, and went to check on the other monitors, before being called back. "Hey, pup."

He looked back at her; with a feeling she had something to say. And he hoped it was something good as he came back, and jumped up onto the stool.

"Sorry, I…" said Cheetah. "I keep forgetting your name."

"It's Marshall."

"Right," Cheetah said again.

"Tell me something though," Marshall continued. "Why is it that every time you and your family members acted out after not getting your ways?"

"We come from a long line of winners," Cheetah replied. "My cousin didn't want to break that streak, especially since his father was mayor before him, and always won contests for mayors, and all that. Thinking about it now, it leads me to believe he's just being selfish; and it reminds me of all the races I've lost. I took the one 5 years ago the hardest, because I worked so hard."

"You are right about your cousin being selfish," Marshall agreed. "And that race, and the time that followed, was a very painful time for me and my girlfriend."

"Why?" Cheetah asked.

"It's a long story," Marshall replied with a cringe.

"I'm all ears," said Cheetah. Marshall didn't like talking about what happened back then, but he knew he had to. He took a deep breath.

"It all started 5 years ago, at the 'Round the World Road Rally Championship. Everything was going smoothly, until you showed up."

_Flashback_

_The Whoosh had just crossed the finish line first, winning the 'Round the World Road Rally Championship. Everyone cheered, especially Ryder and the pups. Marshall, being the Whoosh's biggest fan, ran up to him and started licking his face. Cheetah, however, got so mad from losing that she pulled the Whoosh aside, and laid it all out on him; and a lot of that yelling consisted of racial slurs towards him, and they were so bad that parents had to cover their children's ears, and even Ryder and the pups covered their ears and gave Cheetah looks of disgust. Everest especially was not happy to hear them, as she remembered her last owner that passed away was of a different race, and she felt the need to do something about it, much to Marshall telling her to just leave it alone. _

"_Hey!" she shouted. "Why do you do that?" _

"_Do what?" Cheetah sneered. _

"_That!" Everest shouted again. "Taking your losing the race out on everyone! And what makes you think it's okay to spew racial slurs? Here's a news flash, it's not! And you know, it seems to me every Humdinger is just the same! Attitude and everything!" _

"_And it seems to me every time I see you around, especially with the other pups, you become more of a…oh! Slut!" _

_Everest yelped upon hearing that, and within seconds, tears came pouring out of her eyes. She backed away, trying to stay close to the other pups; but for Marshall, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. He had to act. _

"_All right, that's it!" he said as he walked away from the group, and chomped at Cheetah. "What in the living hell is wrong with you? Why would you call her that?" _

"_Because she always hangs around with you and the other pups!" Cheetah sneered again. _

"_That doesn't mean jack!" Marshall barked. "We're ALL friends, teammates, brothers and sisters! And you calling her that was taking it way to far! First it's the Whoosh, and then it's me, and now her? What did he ever do to you?" _

"_Thinking she can tango with me, like you and everyone else think you can!" Cheetah argued. _

"_Oh, I know we can!" Marshall argued back. "But it still doesn't give the right to call her that awful word, you stupid bitch! Now get out of my sight before I chomp your face off!" _

_With that, Marshall went back to join the others, who were all giving him not so happy looks. Even 14 year old Ryder had his arms crossed as he gave Marshall the look that meant he was in trouble. _

"_Marshall," Chase began as he stepped forward. "Do you know what you just said?" _

"_Of course I do! Do you think I'm dumb?" Marshall snapped before turning to Everest, whose eyes were blood shot from crying. "Everest, are you…" _

_Everest backed away from him before he could finish. She couldn't believe she was a witness to what Marshall had just done. _

"_I can't believe you said that, Marshall," she said through still dripping tears. "Do you even know what you were talking about?" _

"_Um…ye…" _

"_Didn't think so!" _

"_Everest, if you just let me explain, then…" _

"_No need! I think… I think I need to be alone. _

"_Everest…" _

_But Everest was already running all the way back to Jake's mountain, leaving Marshall at a loss for words. He felt like he wanted to cry, until Skye walked up and cleared her throat. _

"_Don't tell me you're offended too, Skye," he said. _

"_Little bit!" Skye snapped. "Marshall, do you even know what a bitch is?" _

"_Duh! It's a female pup!" Marshall snapped back. _

"_Right!" Skye snapped again. "So, why did you call Cheetah that?" _

"_Because the word has multiple definitions," Marshall replied, now right in Skye's face. "In human interpretation, it's also a female human who is mean and nasty, Cheetah being just that!" _

"_Are you sure about that Marshall?" Rocky asked with a look of confusion. _

"_Look it up in the dictionary, genius!" Marshall shouted. _

"_The dictionary?" Rocky asked again, looking even more confused. _

"_Yeah! I've been reading it every night before I go to sleep for the last few months." _

"_Where did you find a dictionary?" asked Zuma. _

"_Ryder has one upstairs at the Lookout," Chase replied, and Ryder nodded in agreement. _

"_And as I mentioned before, I have obviously been borrowing it!" said Marshall. _

"_Well, that now explains where my dad's old Reader's Digest Canadian Webster disappeared to," said Ryder, giving it some thought. _

"_So you see," Marshall continued. "I know the many definitions to that word, and all the other words in that huge book. I wasn't trying to offend you, Skye. Nor was I trying to offend Everest. Do you honestly think I would do anything to offend or bring harm to the pup I love?" _

_Everyone was surprised; Marshall actually admitted he loved Everest, and they had no idea he did. They couldn't even find the means to answer his question, so he just continued on. _

"_Didn't think so! I did all that to protect her. Now if you'll excuse me." _

_Without another word, Marshall scampered off, leaving Ryder and the other pups absolutely speechless. Skye was now feeling really guilty for getting upset with Marshall for trying to do what he thought was right to protect Everest, she was even close to crying. They all followed Marshall home, and they found him inside the Lookout trying call Everest, but she didn't answer. He did, however, leave a message for her, hoping she would get it. Everyone listened to his words; they were not full of cheer, but full of sorrow. _

"_Everest. It's Marshall. Listen, I'm really sorry for what happened today, and I'm especially sorry for what I said. I really mean it when I say that I wasn't trying to hurt you. I would never do that, even if my life depended on it. I just wish I could explain it to you so you could understand why I did it. And quite honestly, I would feel better if we talked face to face. Because even though it just happened maybe an hour ago, I'm already missing you. Okay, I'm gonna go now, before I break down. Bye." _

_As soon as he finished the call, he went outside with tears in his eyes. The pups watched him as he went over to the same cliff where the edge collapsed underneath him causing him to fall and break his paw 4 years prior. That was a pretty bad day for him, having 5 accidents on his own birthday; this day, however, with all that had happened from once again being made a fool by Cheetah, to most likely losing his friend and only pup he ever loved, this would be known as the worst day of his life. Chase, having known Marshall since he himself was 9 weeks old and Marshall was only a few hours old, knew this was the saddest he had ever seen his friend. He and the others knew it was wrong to judge him for what he did, and they now understood what was going on with him, and they had to let him know it wasn't his fault. _

_Laying on the edge, looking out at the bay watching the sun go down, he had a faint hope that Everest would forgive him. But at the same time, he had a gut feeling she was upset enough that she wouldn't come back again. Thinking about it made him cry even more. Skye was the first to approach him, and she too had tears in her eyes. She hugged the weeping Dalmatian, which really surprised him. _

"_I'm so sorry Marshall," she said as she hugged him. _

"_We all are," said Chase as he and the other pups joined in that hug. Ryder knelt next to them and petted Marshall. _

"_Do you think she'll forgive me?" he asked through his tears. _

"_We don't know, dude," said Zuma. "But, it would totally be a miracle if she did." _

"_Time will tell," said Ryder, as he and the pups continued to watch the sunset. _

_Every day, Marshall waited anxiously to hear from Everest, but it upset him more when he didn't. He even asked Ryder if he heard anything; Ryder had spoken to Jake about the incident, and he was not happy at first, but when Ryder explained it all, he started to understand. He wanted to explain it to Everest, but Ryder advised him to let Marshall do it, but in order for that to happen, she needed to see him. Overtime, Jake tried to convince her to go talk to Marshall, but she kept refusing. It seemed as though nothing would work, and it really pained Jake to see Everest so upset, but he knew all she needed was time. _

_3 years had passed, and a lot had changed. The pups were finally fully grown, and their appearances looked more adult-like. The brown part of Chase's fur now looked almost black; Skye, even though she had Cocker Spaniel in her blood, she grew to the size of a Miniature Poodle, and was very beautiful, and finally started dating Chase, which had been going on for the last couple of months. Rocky started looking more like a Border Collie, and was now a fully licenced mechanic; Rubble looked a little less plump, had more muscle, and now knew EVERYTHING there was to know about both construction and contracting. Zuma had the skills to be a surfing and boating instructor, Marshall was now a fire chief, and a fully licenced chief medical officer; and Ryder was now 17 years old, and making advanced preparations to attend the Toronto Police Academy in a few weeks, and Chase would be joining him. _

_During those 3 years, Marshall still hadn't heard from Everest, but he also didn't want to spend the rest of his life crying over her. So, he devoted himself to his work, which took his mind off of things. However, any mention of Everest, he would just outright say 'shut up.' So nobody dared to mention her, no matter how hard they tried. Even Everest started feeling sad about not seeing Marshall, and she started to feel bad for what happened, even though she hadn't heard his message from 3 years prior. But she couldn't stay away from the Lookout much longer, so she made the decision to go and see Skye; so Jake gave Skye the heads up, and just in time too, because Everest had already arrived in her snow cat, bright-eyed, beautiful, and donning a teal jewelled head band on her head. _

"_Everest! You're here!" Skye called out as she ran to hug Everest, and Chase followed behind her. _

"_Hi Skye!" Everest replied. "Sorry I was away for so long. I…" _

_She lost her train of thought when she spotted Marshall walking into the Lookout, unaware Everest was even there. Skye and Chase followed her gaze, knowing something was up. _

"_I was afraid to be around Marshall after what happened," Everest continued. _

"_Yeah, about that," said Chase. _

"_What is it?" asked Everest. _

"_First of all, it was a long time ago," Chase replied. "We've already forgiven him for it, because he told us why he did it. Second, you need to talk to him. You need to hear him out, you really need to know why he did what he did." _

_Everest thought about it, and she knew Chase was right. She started walking towards to Lookout, but then was stopped by Chase. _

"_Oh, and Everest," he said. Everest turned to him. "When you do talk to him, be sure to be careful with your wording." _

_Everest nodded, and then continued back towards the Lookout. She didn't know why she was told to be careful with her wording, unaware she would soon find out why. The other pups were certainly glad Ryder wasn't home at that time, in case something went wrong. Everest reached the door which was left open to let in some air, and there she saw Marshall, hard at work and wearing what looked like surgical scrubs. She quietly cleared her throat, and started out simple. _

"_Hi, Marshall." _

_Marshall looked up and saw Everest's reflection in the monitor he was standing in front of; at first he tensed up, but then he decided to just keep calm, and talk. _

"_Hello Everest," he said. "I'm surprised you actually decided to come back here." _

_That voice of his, low as can be. Even lower than the other male pups, it made Everest blush and she tried to hide it, unaware Marshall could still see her in the monitor. He smiled briefly, until she spoke again. _

"_I came to see Skye," she said. "But then she and Chase told me to come and talk to you. And I needed time to think about things; plus I also felt scared of coming here because of happened." _

_Marshall turned his head to face her, which really made Everest shake. He looked so different from the last time she saw him; more grown up, more, shall we say, manly. But it still didn't change the fact he was upset for not seeing her for so long. He crooked a quick small smile. _

"_Pff! For one thing, that was nice of them to do that," he said, but then the smile went away. "Another thing, it should only take you maybe, a couple weeks, or a couple months to get over something like that. Instead, you waited 3 goddamn years, and what for? It's not like you lost a loved one that day; oh, wait a minute, you did! And calling me stupid was not so hot of you either." _

"_W-what?" asked Everest, completely confused as she followed Marshall outside. "When did I ever call you stupid?" _

"_That day, when I tried to tell you the definition to the word 'bitch,' and you wouldn't bloody let me. Ugh! Damn toys!" _

_He growled as he kicked the chew toy aside, which surprised Everest. This was not like Marshall. _

"_Okay," she said, brushing it off. "So, what does it mean?" _

"_Well," Marshall began. "The main definition is a female pup; like you, like Skye, like…oh! My mother who I never knew. But what you don't know is that the word has multiple definitions. Another common definition is an unpleasant, mean, nasty female human. Exhibit A: Cheetah. Satisfied?" _

"_Well, now I am," Everest replied, feeling a bit relieved. "But, how do you know the word has multiple definitions?" _

"_Like I told everyone else that day," Marshall answered back. "I've read the dictionary, cover to cover. Many times before then, plus many more times after that; and you'll be surprised with the total amount of times." _

"_Enlighten me," said Everest. "How many times?" _

_Marshall turned around, and walked towards Everest until he was right in her face. _

"_1518," he said before walking away. _

"_Wow, that's a lot," said Everest as she continued to follow Marshall around. "But still, you said it to her, which insulted me! I'm surprised Skye even forgave you!" _

"_Yeah, so?" asked Marshall sarcastically. _

"_Well, what about me?" Everest asked back. _

"_What about you?" _

"_Aren't you going to apologise to me?" _

"_Nope." _

_Everest stopped. She couldn't believe what she just came out of Marshall's mouth. _

"_Wow, that's low, even for you," she said before following him back inside. Marshall knew she wouldn't stop, and he was getting irritated to the point where he started to growl silently as she continued. "But you still used it without thinking! You should've thought twice before calling someone that! So, why do it when you knew it was going to offend me? Because by doing that, and not apologising, it leads me to believe you don't care about me at a…" _

"_I DID IT TO PROTECT YOU!" Marshall shouted, scaring Everest to the point where she fell backwards, giving Marshall a frightened look as he looked down on her and continued. "I saw what she did to you! I was there when she made you cry because she called you that disgusting word! Do you actually think for one minute I was gonna let an action like that go unpunished?! No! So, I did what I thought was right! I translated the term to interpret the HUMAN tongue, so SHE could get insulted! Not you! So you see, I protect you, and you got insulted by it instead of thanking me! And believe me when I say; that was a big 'fuck you' to my face! Now please, excuse me!" _

_With that, Marshall walked away leaving Everest completely petrified. All that, just to protect her from what had happened 3 years prior, especially when she forgot about the part where Cheetah called that awful word; she now understood why it all happened, and why he did what he did. She really felt foolish for not letting Marshall explain himself in the first place, no wonder he was so upset. She slowly got up, and with tears coming to her eyes, inched a little closer just so that she could see Marshall, who was once again hard at work, and not even bothering to turn around. _

"_Marshall…" she began, trying to keep calm, but the tears just kept coming. "I…I can't b-believe you…d-did that…for me. That…that was so sweet of you…" _

_She started to walk away, unaware Marshall actually heard her, and started feeling guilty himself. As soon as Everest went outside, she sank down to the ground, and started crying loud enough for all the other pups to hear. They immediately knew something was wrong. _

"_Everest! Are you okay?" Skye asked as she rushed over and hugged Everest. _

"_We heard shouting!" Rocky called out. _

"_What happened?" asked Zuma, who had just gotten home and had not taken his boating gear off. _

"_I-It's Marshall…" Everest stammered. "He… He's not…the same as when I first met him. He's…he's…" _

"_Changed," Chase finished. "Yeah, we know." _

"_Tell me one thing," said Rubble, looking a little concerned. "Did I hear correctly that he stepped on a toy, and then kicked it aside and said 'damn toys'?" _

"_Yeah," Everest replied. _

"_Thought so," Rocky spat through his teeth. "You should've heard what he said to Rubble a few months back." _

"_Why? What did he say?" _

"_When I asked him if he wanted to play with one of the tug toys with me, he just up and said 'toys are for puppies', and walked away." _

_Everest went wide-eyed. That definitely was not like Marshall. _

"_I don't believe it," she said. _

"_So you see, Everest," Chase chimed in. "Marshall's been acting out ever since that incident 3 years ago. That's why we have to watch what we say to him, and believe it or not that includes Ryder. He actually told him off a couple times." _

"_He's changed so much during these last 3 years," Zuma added. "We can't even believe it ourselves. He doesn't laugh anymore." _

"_He's not clumsy anymore. Surprise, surprise," said Rocky as he rolled his eyes, before receiving a wack over the head from Chase. _

"_He doesn't play games with us anymore either," said Rubble. "Not even Pup Pup Boogie, and that's his favourite game." _

"_He doesn't do ANYTHING with us anymore," said Skye. _

"_Does he do anything anymore?" asked Everest. _

"_Well, actually," Chase answered. "They only thing he does nowadays is work, work, work." _

"_What kind of work?" Everest asked again. _

"_Well, there are the Paw Patrol missions," said Rocky. _

"_And he just recently went through advanced medical training," said Zuma. "So now he's officially a doctor." _

"_And not to mention," Chase added. "This has been a pretty hot summer, and a lot of people in town have been complaining about overheating. So, Marshall has his paws full with helping them feel better, and is under a lot of stress because of it." _

"_But don't worry," said Rubble. "He does love you." _

"_He does?" Everest asked in shock. _

"_Of course he does," Rubble answered. "Just give him some time, and he'll come around." _

"_I hope so," said Everest. "He said he wouldn't apologise to me for what happened." _

"_Oooh," Skye cringed. "Obviously you haven't heard his message yet." _

"_What message?" asked Everest with a confused look on her face. _

"_He left you a message not long after the incident," said Skye. "You should listen to it." _

_Everest pressed on her pup tag, and sure enough there was a message. The other pups closed their eyes as they once again heard the sorrow in Marshall's message, and Everest couldn't believe what she heard. _

"_He DID apologise," she said as she continued to cry. "Oh… I'm such an idiot!" _

"_We all felt the same way when we heard him leaving the message," said Rocky. The other nodded in agreement; unaware Marshall heard the entire conversation. Everest plucked up the courage and got up, and went back to the door, and just stood there in silence for quite a while. _

"_Marshall," she finally said, still crying. "I'm the one who should be sorry. Not you. I…I'm gonna go." _

"_Everest," Marshall quietly called out, but loud enough for Everest to stop in her tracks. "Very soon these patients are gonna start going home, which will bring my stress levels down. When that time comes, we'll talk properly. But until then, a beautiful pup like you shouldn't be crying." _

_That made Everest smile, which made Marshall smile as she went back outside. He really started to feel bad for his outburst earlier. But he felt a little better after knowing Everest finally heard his message. Skye saw the smile on her face. _

"_What did he say?" she asked. _

"_He said we'll talk properly when the patients go home," she answered. "And, he called me beautiful." _

"_See?" Rubble cheered. "I told you he'd come around." _

_Everyone else gave Rubble the look that said, 'yes, yes, yes, you were right.' He just laughed. Throughout the next couple of weeks, Everest started doing a lot better knowing Marshall would one day soon give her the word to get together to talk, not knowing that day was sooner than she thought. One day when she was helping Jake clean out a couple of cabins to get ready for new campers to come around, she had no idea she had yet another message from Marshall; that was until she got home and noticed her pup tag glowing, indicating there was a message. While Jake was having a napping, Everest stepped outside so as not to disturb him, and listened to the message, and smiled and blushed deeply when she heard the familiar low voice of Marshall. _

"_Hey Everest, it's Marshall. Most of my patients have gone home, I just have one more to take care of, and then we'll set up a time for us to meet. Talk to you soon. Bye." _

"_And I can't wait," Everest said to herself as she smiled. _

_The next couple days went smoothly for everyone; Jake and Everest had been busy with camping season taking off without a hitch. That was until one day when a couple of campers came running past Jake's screaming and panicking. No one knew what was going on, until Everest saw smoke nearby, followed a distant tower of flames; a wildfire had broken out. Jake went to the nearby cabins to evacuate everyone, while Everest went out in her snow cat to look for stranded campers out in the wooded areas, and thankfully everyone made their way out. Everest was thinking about Marshall, and what he would recommend, but it distracted her to the point where she didn't look where she was going and she hit a bump, causing the snow cat to flip over and she fell into a deep pit. _

_She regained consciousness after a while, and groaned as she moved. It was a pretty hard landing for her, especially the way she landed, and what she landed on. Everest was wide-eyed. _

"_Oh no! My pup pack! It's broken!" she said to herself in a panic. She then pressed on her pup tag. Nothing. "And so is my pup tag. And this pit is too deep, and the fire is still burning! Only one thing to do. Here goes nothing." _

_She took a deep breath, and then started to howl, hoping it was loud enough for someone to hear. _

_Back at the Lookout, the pups came outside, only to find Marshall sleeping right in the middle of the yard. They all carefully approached him, and remained quiet so as not to wake him. _

"_Would you look at that," said Chase. _

"_He's finally sleeping," said Skye. _

"_Yeah, he hasn't slept in days," Rubble agreed. _

"_But now that every one of his patients have healed, he can rest," Chase said, just as he saw Marshall starting to stir. "Uh oh." _

_Marshall then jolted awake, looked around a smelled the air. _

"_Wait a minute," he said as he got up and went over to the fence, and saw something on Jake's mountain that looked very unnatural. "No." _

_He ran inside as fast as he could, got up the top level, running right past Ryder, and barked for the periscope. _

"_Marshall, what are you doing?" Ryder asked. _

"_Shh!" Marshall snapped, causing Ryder to just back off and let the Dalmatian do whatever he was doing. Sure enough, something terrible was happening on Jake's mountain, and he began to worry about his and Everest's safety. Especially Everest. "I was afraid of this! Ryder, get the other's ready for an Ultimate Fire Rescue!" _

"_W-why?" _

"_Just do it!" _

_Ryder was really at a loss as to what was going on with Marshall these days; but when he looked through the periscope, he knew. So he contacted the pups. _

"_Paw Patrol! It's time for an Ultimate Rescue! Hurry!" _

"_That doesn't sound good," said Zuma. _

"_No, it does not," Chase agreed as they all rushed to the Lookout and into the elevator, where Marshall was already sitting and waiting. _

"_Marshall, what's going on?" asked Rocky. _

"_If I tell you pups now, there would be no point in Ryder explaining it to you, now would there?" asked Marshall, leaving the other speechless. "Didn't think so." _

_Rocky rolled his eyes and shook his head, wondering why he even bothers talking to Marshall these days as the elevator closed, and went all the way up to the top, and the pups leapt out, and into the line of attention. _

"_Paw Patrol ready for…" _

"_Yeah, yeah, yeah, we get it! Can we please just get on with it?" Marshall barked. _

"_Calm down, Marshall! Don't be so impatient! Which is what you have been nowadays," Rocky barked back. He'd been wanting to do that for a while, which only made Marshall angrier, enough to get right in Rocky's face, worrying the other pups. _

"_What did you just say to me?" he growled. _

"_You heard me!" Rocky snapped. "You're so impatient, and lately the only thing we've all had to deal with is your crummy attitude! And I'm tired of it!" _

"_Say that again!" _

"_Happy to! Your. Attitude. Sucks!" _

"_You take that back!" _

"_Never!" _

"_Enough! Both of you!" Chase yelled, trying to break them up, and then turned to Rocky. "Especially you; you were warned about back talking and/or arguing with Marshall." _

"_Hey! He started it!" shouted Rocky, pointing at Marshall, who continued to growl. _

"_I don't care, I'll finish it!" Chase shouted back before Ryder whistled ever so loudly, it caused all the pups to cover their ears. "More like Ryder will finish it." _

"_Stop it! All of you!" Ryder yelled, as the pups got back into the line of attention. "And yes, Rocky. You were told not to argue with Marshall, especially when he has to lead this mission! Now, are you done?" _

"_Yes, sir," Rocky answered, looking shamefully at the ground. _

"_Are you prepared to listen?" _

"_Yes, sir." _

"_Good! Because this emergency is far more important than your constant bickering!" _

_Ryder then used his newly invented remote to turn the periscope towards the mountain, and everyone gasped when they saw a cloud of smoke. _

"_Marshall, is that what I think it is?" _

"_That is EXACTLY what you think it is," Marshall replied, looking both worried and angry at the same time. "A wildfire. On Jake's mountain." _

"_And to the best of my knowledge, it's the first one in the history of Adventure Bay," Ryder added. "We need to act fast, and we need to act now. Marshall, as I said before, you lead the mission since you're the firefighter." _

"_Let's go!" Marshall shouted as he started heading towards the slide, but then stopped. "And for the record Rocky, if you went through the exact same thing I went through, you would be acting the same fucking way. Believe me." _

_He then headed down the slide, and the others followed once the Ultimate Fire Truck was ready to go, and then they were off to Jake's mountain, to take on the biggest firefighting job yet. Marshall stopped a few meters away from where there were small brush fires, and took a quick look around, and found the major source. _

"_The worst of it is right up there!" he called out to the others. "These brush fires are just the start of it, and they might be bigger as we go! Let's separate so we cover more ground! And stay within my view!" _

_They all separated, and worked fast to put out the brush fires, which were mostly caused be ash that was still burning as it fell. The last brush fire was right near one of the empty cabins, and the pups put it out just in time before it even touched the cabin. They then gathered back with Marshall and they headed to Jake's cabin, where they saw him outside panicking. _

"_Ryder! Pups! Thank goodness you're here!" he said. "Everest is missing!" _

"_What?" said Ryder as the pups gasped in worry, especially Marshall. _

"_Yeah," Jake continued. "She took off up the mountain to check for stranded campers about an hour ago, and she hasn't come back." _

"_Ryder, we have to find her!" said Marshall in a panic. _

"_And we will," said Ryder. "Jake, grab your truck, and follow us. And make sure you stay behind me so the pups can do the work." _

_Jake quickly hopped into his truck and followed closely behind Ryder so as to stay safe, and Marshall and the others went on ahead to fight some more brush fire here and there. It was all going smoothly, until Marshall came to a sudden hard stop. _

"_Listen," he said, as he heard something in the distance. Something very familiar. "I know that howl!" _

"_It's coming form that way!" said Chase as he pointed in the direction of where the howl was coming from. _

"_You and your big ears," Marshall joked. "Skye, get up in the air and search! We'll follow!" _

"_On it!" said Skye as she barked out her wings and set off to search for the howl, with the others following closely behind. _

_Everest continued to howl as much as she could, until she had to stop and catch her breath. She then sighed in disappointment. _

"_What if someone can't hear me? And what if I don't get rescued in time?" she asked herself. But then she heard something familiar getting louder as it got closer. "I wonder… Oh, but my voice is going. But I gotta keep trying." _

_She continued to howl, as Skye flew overhead looking around, until she saw something familiar turned over. She gasped at the awful sight, and immediately contacted Marshall as she worried for her friend. _

"_Marshall! I see the snow cat hanging over a pit! That must be where she is!" she said. _

"_Thanks Skye! We'll be right there!" Marshall replied as he drove to where Skye was hovering, and found the snow cat. He came to a complete stop, hopped out and dashed over to the pit. "Everest!" _

"_Marshall!" Everest called out with her now very weak voice. "Thank goodness you heard me!" _

"_Sit tight! We're gonna get you out of there!" Marshall called back. "Alright, here's the plan: on my command, we're all gonna pitch in to flip the snow cat, then Ryder will hitch it up to Jake's truck to tow it back. It's obviously gonna need some repairs. And then we're gonna lure the big hose down to Everest so she can grab it, and we'll pull her out. Everyone ready?" _

"_Ready!" Everyone called out. _

"_Now!" _

_They all worked together, and successfully flipped the snow cat over, and Ryder hooked it up to Jake's truck, while the pups grabbed the big fire hose, and with Marshall in front, they lured it down into the pit to Everest. _

"_Everest! Grab it! And hold on tight!" Marshall called out. Everest hugged the hose with all four paws, and even held onto it with her mouth just to be on the safe side. _

"_I got it!" she called back. _

"_Pull!" Marshall shouted, and with all of their pup power, they managed to get Everest out of the pit and with one last pull, she fell right onto Marshall who held her tight for comfort. _

"_It's alright. I gotcha. I gotcha," he said as he began to notice her twitching constantly, and slightly yelping with exhaustion. "My God, you're shaking." _

_After the snow cat was hooked up, Jake and Ryder ran to the scene, and Jake picked Everest up and held her in his arms as Marshall stood up and gave Jake some strict orders. _

"_Get her back to the cabin, and get her gear off. Make sure she gets lots of water, and lots of rest. I'll be there as soon as I can." _

"_Got it," said Jake as he got Everest into his truck, and drove back to his cabin, while Ryder and the pups headed further up the mountain and fought more fires, until they stopped right by the chair lift; where a good distance from the bottom of the slope, was the burning mass. _

"_Brace yourselves, pups," said Marshall. "This is the biggest one yet. Also the worst of it." _

"_It hasn't even touched the chair lift, or the track," Rubble pointed out. _

"_Not yet," said Marshall as he looked around, and started conjuring up a plan. "That's why we're going to stop it in its tracks. Rubble, I need you to start laying mounds of sand around the outer perimeter to stop the fire should it get too far; then once that's done, start throwing sand onto the fire and be careful while doing so. Rocky and Zuma, you two go to the far side if the fire and start spraying from there. Skye, you fly overhead and spray the flames from in the air starting from the perimeter going inward. Ryder, jump in and be ready with the big hose, and I will lift the cab. Let's do this!" _

_Marshall drove down the slope, and git just close enough so he the others wouldn't get hurt. The pups then separated and went about their given tasks, fight with all their might, until there was nothing left. Once the smoke finally cleared, Marshall took a quick sniff to make sure nothing was burning. _

"_And, out," he sighed. "Let's head back to Jake's. You pups help Ryder with the repairs on the snow cat, and I need to tend to Everest." _

"_Are you sure you're gonna be okay being around her after your spat the other day?" asked Chase, looking a little worried. _

"_It's my job Chase, I gotta do it," Marshall replied. "Plus, I feel bad for yelling at her the way I did. I was under all of that stress, and she kept going on and on and on about the incident, and I snapped." _

"_You still love her, don't you?" _

"_That's why I gotta fix it." _

_They headed back to Jake's, and once they arrived, the other pups followed Ryder to where the snow cat was parked and started the repairs, while Marshall rushed inside, only to find Jake giving Everest another bowl of water. _

"_How many is that?" he asked. _

"_This will be her fourth," Jake replied. _

"_Wow! That's impressive!" said Marshall with a surprised look. _

"_Yeah," Jake agreed. "I did have to escort her outside a couple times so she could…you know. But other than that, she's been resting since we got here." _

"_Good. I'll be right back," said Marshall as he went to another room and changed into his doctor's uniform, and then came back out with a thermometer at the ready, and Everest lifted her head to be ready for her checkup. _

"_Open up." _

_She complied, looking up at Marshall with the sweetest look ever, like the day they first met. It made him smile. _

"_Temperature's normal." _

_He then placed his paw on her chest behind her left elbow for her pulse. _

"_Your pulse is strong." _

_Next he got the small battery powered blood pressure machine, placed the sleeve on Everest's paw, and waited while the machine did its work. _

"_Blood pressure is steady." _

_He put the machine away and grabbed his stethoscope to check her heart and lungs. _

"_Take a deep breath." _

_She did, and without difficulty. _

"_Sounds clear." _

_Finally, he flicked on the little flashlight that was hooked onto his ear, and lifted his paw. _

"_Look here." _

_She looked right his paw while he carefully shone the light in her eyes. _

"_So, how is she?" Jake asked nervously. _

"_Well," Marshall began as he turned the flashlight off. "She's still pretty exhausted, but her vitals are normal. So long as she continues to rest, she'll be just fine." _

"_Thanks Marshall," Jake replied with a yawn. _

"_You should rest too, Jake. I'll watch her, like the doctor that I am," said Marshall. Jake complied as he sat back in his chair, and drifted off to sleep. Marshall turned back and smiled at Everest, who slowly sat up. _

"_Thank you Marshall, for everything," she said as she hugged him. "I was starting to lose my voice from all that howling; but my pup tag broke, so I couldn't contact anyone. And my pup pack got damaged so I couldn't get out, plus my snow cat was kind of covering the hole where I was trapped. So, I did the only thing I could do; make as much noise as possible to make sure I was heard." _

"_You did good Everest, really good. But importantly, I'm glad you're okay," said Marshall as he leaned forward and kissed her. She was completely surprised, but then she realised Rubble was indeed correct. Marshall then pulled away so they could both catch their breath. _

"_But, what about what you said the other day?" she asked worriedly, only to have Marshall hold her close to him and nuzzle her. _

"_Everest, I want you to listen to me very carefully," he said calmly. "All I wanted was for you to understand my actions that day 3 years ago, because if I hadn't done it, then what kind of friend would I have been? As for what happened the other day, I shouldn't have yelled at you." _

"_It's okay Marshall; you were under a lot of stress, what with the patients, and all." _

"_It's not okay, Everest. Yeah, I was stressed out, but I was also upset because I didn't see you for 3 years and I took it out on you. That was wrong, and I'm really sorry." _

_Marshall looked for a minute, still upset over what had happened. Until he felt the pressure of Everest's head against his, which grabbed his attention. _

"_I forgive you," she said. "Even for what happened all those years ago. Because now I know why you did it, and I never knew you could be so protective." _

"_That's how much I love you," said Marshall, relieved that he finally confessed. "I wanted you to know then; hell I wanted you the day we met. But I was to because of the fact we has just met, and plus we were still very young." _

"_Yeah," Everest agreed as she snuggled against him, happy with what she heard. "We were so young then, but now you're a handsome stud. When did that happen?" _

"_It's called growing up, babe," Marshall laughed, making Everest laugh as he kissed her again, right before she let out a big yawn. "You should get some sleep. I'll be right here." _

_Everest nodded as she lay back down, and Marshall lay down next to her, with her chin resting on his paws, and he rested his chin on her head. With a smile on their faces, they drifted off to sleep, knowing they were okay. Ryder and the other pups came in a while later, and the pups went straight to sleep after working hard on repairing Everest's snow cat and pup pack. _

"_Alright, repairs are done," Ryder said as he came to a complete stop at the sight of two love pups sleeping near the fire place. He carefully nudged Jake. "Jake, wake up. Look." _

_Jake looked over, and smiled when he saw Marshall and Everest asleep together. _

"_Well, would you look at that," he whispered. _

"_They finally made up," Ryder whispered back. _

"_Yeah," Jake agreed. "About time too, I hated seeing her so upset." _

"_And I hated having Marshall boss me around," Ryder added as he sat down and started fixing Everest's pup tag before going to sleep. _

_Marshall woke up the next morning, early enough to watch the sunrise. Everyone else was already up and about, except for him and Everest of course. He looked down at her sleeping form, and he put aside the recent hard times, and just thought about all the good times, and this was one of them. He felt so lucky. After a while, Everest woke up, let out a yawn, and looked up at her now boyfriend, who was smiling at her. _

"_Morning beautiful," he said to his girlfriend. _

"_Morning handsome," she smiled, before feeling something against her leg, making her jump. "EEK! What was that?" _

"_That was my tail, Everest," Marshall smirked. _

"_Oh," Everest sighed, relieved it wasn't anything else crawling around. "Your tail is longer than I remember, that's why I got startled." _

"_Yeah, it grew to size when I did," Marshall laughed, making Everest laugh as well. "Now, how about we do a quick checkup?" _

"_Okay." _

"_Can that wait 'til later, Marshall?" Ryder asked as he came inside. "We wanna get back out there and double check to make sure there's nothing still burning and it's best to do it before it gets too hot." _

"_Yeah, for sure," Marshall replied, before turning back to Everest. "Wanna come with us?" _

"_Sure," said Everest as she and Marshall left the room the change. Marshall was the first one to come outside and meet up with the other pups, who had just finished talking to Ryder about what he had seen the previous night, and they were warned not to bombard Marshall with all the questions. He cleared his throat to announce his presence, and they turned to him and remained silent, remembering what Ryder told them. Chase, however, being a little braver than the others, decided to come forward first, and Ryder was only expecting the worst to happen. _

"_So, are you two together now?" he asked, also expecting Marshall to snap, but instead got a smile back from him. _

"_Yeah, finally." _

_Ryder closed his eyes as he sighed with relief that Marshall answered him ever so calmly, and with a smile, no less. The pups quietly cheered; and they were happy to see Marshall smiling, which they had not seen in 3 years. _

"_Dude, that is totally awesome!" Zuma cheered. _

"_Yeah, it is," Marshall agreed with a smile. "And, I'm sorry I've been so short tempered these last few years." _

"_Don't worry about it, we understand," said Chase, placing his paw on Marshall's shoulder. _

"_I'm sorry too," Rocky chimed in. Everyone looked at him. "And you're right Marshall, I don't know what it's like to miss a loved one, because I don't have a female in my life; whereas you did, and that incident caused you to lose her just like that. And after a while you got even more upset to the point where you would get angry all the time, and it may have upset the others to an extent, but it upset me the most and I felt like I needed to speak my mind; which I know now was a bad idea. And besides, you had all the added weight of dealing with all the patients during the last few weeks, and of course not seeing Everest for 3 years what the cherry on top of that particular cake." _

"_Thanks for understanding Rocky," said Marshall as he gave Rocky hug, which made everyone else smile. _

"_And, did someone say cake?" asked Rubble. "If so, I hope it's vegan." _

"_Not that particular cake, Rubble," Rocky laughed. _

"_I know," Rubble giggled. "Besides, I don't eat cake unless it's someone's birthday, and I don't go for seconds anymore. Too much can be bad." _

"_You're not wrong on that one," Marshall agreed. "But you gotta admit, Mr. Porter makes awesome vegan cheesecake." _

"_Cut it out! You're tempting me!" said Ryder, making the pups laugh. _

"_Sorry," Marshall cowered, before seeing Everest come outside in a firefighter's uniform. _

"_Do I look okay?" she asked. _

"_You look amazing," Marshall replied as he nuzzled her. "You ready to go?" _

"_Yep." _

"_Here's your new pup tag Everest," Ryder added as he attached it to her collar. "And your snow cat and pup pack have been repaired." _

"_Thanks Ryder," Everest answered. _

"_Since you're coming with us Everest, you're gonna be in for a fun ride," said Skye. _

"_Why's that?" asked Everest. _

"_We now have a long standing rule that says if you ride along with Marshall, you have to put up with his music," Chase answered. "And pretty much the only kind of music he has on his playlist is heavy metal and rock music." _

"_Since when?" Everest asked Marshall. _

"_A little while before…you know," Marshall answered. _

"_Don't get me wrong, it's good music," said Rocky. _

"_But he turns it up totally loud," Zuma added. _

"_Yeah I do," Marshall smirked. "It has to be loud enough to jam to." _

"_Or head bang," Rocky added. _

"_That too. Come on." _

_Everest hopped into the front sitting next to Marshall, and they took off to where the blaze burned the day before. It still smelled very ashy, so Marshall gave the command to the others to look around and see if there was still anything out there. They all followed Ryder down the slope, while Marshall and Everest waited with his music on low; and during that time, Marshall was on a call with Mayor Goodway, informing her of the wildfire, and advised her to start putting campfire bans all around town every summer. He also spoke to Jake in regards to having Everest stay with him, and he agreed. _

"_Well, the mayor knows about the wildfire," said Marshall. "And Jake's okay with you staying over for a while." _

"_Yay!" Everest cheered. She was excited to be staying with Marshall while she recovers. "So, how many patients did you have in total?" _

"_Oh, goodness," Marshall answered as he looked back on the last few weeks. "I had a few of them come every day for the last couple of weeks, and the majority of them were suffering from heat stroke. But one of them I had, who came to me in the middle of June, had Lyme disease." _

"_Oh no!" said Everest. "I've heard of that. Jake told me he had it once, a long time ago. He said he got it from a tick bite." _

"_Yep, that is correct," said Marshall. _

"_Who got it?" _

"_Danny. He was riding his bike along the trails, and when he got home, his girlfriend found a tick on his shoulder, and removed it right away. However, a few days later he started feeling feverish, so he came to me. Good thing too; if he waited longer…" _

"_It would've resulted in a fatality," said Everest, finishing the sentence. _

"_That's right," Marshall replied. "Thankfully, we caught it in time." _

"_That's good," Everest sighed. "So, what bands do you have on the playlist?" _

"_I got a variety of them; Disturbed, Guns 'n Roses, Whitesnake, AC/DC, Green Day, Aerosmith. And a bunch of others." _

"_Wow. I like softer rock, and other stuff. I'm more into Heart, Ace of Base, Avril Lavigne, Bangles, Pink." _

"_Oh! She's got good stuff out there," said Marshall, which gave him an idea. "How about I add her to my playlist for you?" _

"_I would love that! Thank you!" Everest piped up as she hugged Marshall. _

"_Anything for you," he answered as everyone else came back. "How's it going out there?" _

"_We found one spot that was still smoldering," Skye answered. "But other than that, the fire is out completely." _

"_Good job," said Marshall. "I spoke to Mayor Goodway not too long ago, she knows about the wildfire. So, now there's gonna be campfire bans put into place all over the area every summer from now on." _

"_Good, we need that," said Ryder. _

"_Yep," Marshall agreed. "I also informed Jake that Everest will be staying at the Lookout for a little while, so I can monitor her while she recovers." _

"_Sounds good," said Ryder as he got back onto his ATV. "Let's head home." _

"_Hey, Marshall," Rubble began. "Isn't there supposed to be a province-wide fire ban during the summer?" _

"_Actually, it's supposed to be a Canada-wide fire ban, especially this year," Marshall answered. "And a good portion of wildfires are caused by people." _

"_How's that?" asked Rocky. _

"_A lot of people have the tendency to toss their still lit cigarette butts out of their car windows, without realizing the dangers of that," Marshall answered again. "And then there's campfires that get out of control, or are in close range of trees, like this last one." _

"_Can't wildfires also be caused by lightning?" Chase asked. _

"_Yep, you're definitely not wrong on that one," said Marshall. "But in order for that to happen, the lightning has to hit before the rain does." _

"_Did you study meteorology?" Rocky asked. _

"_I did a little bit during my fire training, because it's absolutely essential for firefighters to know the many causes of fires, and the many ways to put them out safely." _

_They all drove down the mountain, heading back to town. They arrived at the Lookout, and first thing they did was get out of their uniforms, and then eat breakfast since they skipped it to check the aftermath of the fire. Marshall and Everest were out in the back yard laying in the shade, and Marshall finally got around to giving Everest that checkup he wanted to do in the morning. _

"_Everything is looking and sounding good," he said as he lay down next to Everest. "You just have to keep resting, and keep yourself hydrated." _

"_That should be easy," said Everest. "We got a nice shady spot under the tree, with a nice view of the bay, and I'm with you, Doctor Marshall." _

_That last part made him laugh. No one had called him that before, until now. _

"_So, you've read the dictionary 1518 times, huh?" Everest continued. _

"_I would've gotten up to 1520, but I had to put it aside so I could go through my advanced medical training," Marshall answered. _

"_And it definitely paid off," said Everest. "I've been feeling a lot better after being pulled out of that pit." _

"_That's good," said Marshall as he kissed her. "And I promise I won't use that word around you again, without your permission that is." _

"_It's okay," said Everest as she nuzzled him. "In fact, after you told me the many definitions, I started referring to…her…as Bitcharella." _

_They both laughed at that. _

"_I like that, can I use that?" asked Marshall. _

"_Sure," Everest laughed as she nuzzled him again. "Maybe we can make it our personal nickname for her." _

"_Sounds good to me," said Marshall as he kissed her again, just as they spotted Rocky flopping down on the grass nearby. _

"_Looks like Rocky found good spot too," Everest pointed out. _

"_Wait for it," said Marshall, knowing what was about to happen. And sure enough, the sprinklers came on, and Rocky was right next to one of them. _

"_AAHH! YUCK! YUCK! YUCK!" he shouted as he ran away, laughing Marshall and Everest laughing like crazy. _

"_Every fricking time!" Marshall called out. "He always forgets there's sprinkler right there!" _

_They continued laughing and enjoyed the rest of their afternoon together. _

_End of Flashback _

"All of that, because of ME?" asked Cheetah, completely surprised.

"Pretty much," said Marshall. "And I kept my word of not using the term without warning the others; for example when you tried to cause trouble at the café the other day, I turned to Skye, and I gave her the look saying 'I need to say the word,' and she just nodded, giving me silent permission to just do it. And then the next day when you tried to terrorise us, and I went to comfort Everest, I quietly told her that I may have to say the word. And she just told me to go for it."

"Well, now I just feel terrible," said Cheetah.

"It would mean the world to the both of us if you apologised to her," Marshall pointed out.

"I think you're right," Cheetah said before she started coughing heavily, at which point Marshall quickly put an oxygen mask on her, calming her down before she continued.

"Oh by the way, my…"

"Psst!" said Mayor Humdinger snapped. "Don't."

"No, Arch, he deserves to know. They all do."

"Know what?" asked Marshall.

"My real name is Sheera. I came up with my other name for racing because I like the pattern, and well, you know the rest."

"Yep," Marshall nodded, before leaving the room to his little office, and used his pup tag to contact everyone. "Ryder, pups, Everest. The Humdinger's are awake. And they wish to speak to you.

**Don't say I didn't warn ya! It was a long one, lol! Stay tuned for the next chapter. **


End file.
